


Just Kid!Lin

by jenstraflintlocked



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: A lot of ideas, I just had ideas, It might get a little intense cos Issues, Lin Beifong As A Kid, So I put them ALL in one series of lil fics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 40,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26852590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenstraflintlocked/pseuds/jenstraflintlocked
Summary: A series of lil fics about Lin as a kid to explore the relationships she had with other characters as a kid
Relationships: Aang & Lin Beifong, Lin Beifong & Bumi II, Lin Beifong & Kya II, Lin Beifong & Suyin Beifong & Toph Beifong, Lin Beifong & Tenzin
Comments: 97
Kudos: 118





	1. Just Kid!Lin

Lin scowled with ferocious concentration from the doorway of the exercise room, watching her mother train. She was trying to memorise the latest set of movements, ready to attempt replicating them later in her own room. As her mother began cooling down and stretching, Lin carefully backed away on hands and tip toe, already aware that if she made the slightest sound, it would alert her mother to her presence. 

“I know you’re there, kid.” Her mother called over.

“How??” Lin groaned, collapsing onto the floor spreadeagled in defeat. “I didn’t make ANY noise.”

“It’s not just to do with the noise. It’s the vibrations. I can even sense your breathing.” Toph swooped her daughter up and tossed her into the air, Lin laughing gleefully at the brief moment of weightlessness. She twisted to avoid her mother’s outstretched arms and landed cat-like on the floor.

“Can you sense me anywhere?”

“Not when you’re up in the air, no. So be careful.” Her mother reached out and ruffled her hair. “Not that you seem to have any problem sticking a landing.”

Lin stared up at her mother in silence. “Will you teach me to see like that? I wanna be able to see without eyes too!”

“Ohhh you want me to teach you huh? C’mon then.” Her mother moved back into the training room. “Stand there.” Lin bounded to the place her mother pointed at and stood still as a statue as her mother wound a sash around her eyes. “Now stamp.”

“Stamp!” Lin stomped on the floor. “Did I do it?”

“No! You can’t just stamp. You gotta listen to what the stamp tells you.” Lin felt the thud as her mother sat down. “You know Aang?”

“Baldie ol’ turtleduck!”

“Yeah that’s him.” Her mother cackled. “He’s bald so he can feel the wind. I’m barefoot so I can feel the vibrations in the earth. Same thing.”

“Bald foot.” Lin stamped again, frowning as it didn’t work. She knew her mother was sat right in front of her, but she couldn’t sense her.

“Tell you what kid, why don’t you try walking around a little bit first? Get used to seeing with your feet that way. I’m gonna take a shower.” Lin could hear her mother walking away.

She followed and was able to crawl up the basement steps with little worry. She tried to remember the layout of the rooms and what was in them and where. She strode forward and hit a table. “Ow.” She muttered balefully, managing a few more tentative steps before tripping over something. She stretched out her arms and bent her fingers as she walked into the wall. “Ow!”

“Keep at it, kid!” her mother called out.

She made it through the room, feeling completely disorientated by now and still unable to sense anything except the roughness of the bare floor. The hallway suddenly seemed vast and she tried to remember where her room was, stamping her way and trying to gain any information from the tiny vibrations she could feel. There was a strange sensation of emptiness to her left. Not through vibrations but more through something else she couldn’t describe. It had to be a doorway! She turned and walked through it. Her bed was tucked up against the wall, she knew that. And her floor was clear, even if her room wasn’t exactly tidy. 

She walked smack into something that shouldn’t have been there, tried to go round and tripped over something hard and cold, landing with a crash.

“Wrong room, kid.” Her mother emerged from the bathroom at the sound of her wails. “I guess I should follow my own rules and put my armour away safe when I come from work huh? What’s the damage then?”

“I hurt my chin and my nose. And my knee.”

“Any blood?”

“From my elbow.”

“Hm. Sit on the bed.”

Lin tore the now tangled sash from her head and sat down, waiting patiently for her mother to return with the first aid kit.

“Elbow first.”

Lin stuck it out into her mother’s hands, biting down on the hiss of pain at the stinging liquid.

“All healed. Next!” Her mother cheerfully applied the cleaning liquid to all the scrapes and bruises Lin directed her to. “Pride a bit bruised too huh?” she asked as she heard Lin sigh heavily. “You just have to practice more. That’ll heal that. Now skip off to bed kid. Try again tomorrow.”

The next day was a working day which meant she would spend the day at work with her mother. Or the Chief as Toph was known there. It had amused Toph no end when Lin picked up on it and would call out “Hey Chief!” when she wanted Toph’s attention or help with something, just as her officers did. But she was kinder to Lin than to her cops and would echo a droll “Hey Chief” back and pause whatever she was doing to pay attention to Lin. But today Lin was silent, and the officers watched with interest as she walked around the police department blindfolded, the Chief having strictly forbidden them from helping her.

The road to seismic sense success was riddled with bruises and scrapes from bumping into desks and hitting her head and tripping over things and, on one dramatic occasion when she was doing well, nearly getting run over as she wandered out into the road. Aang had been on his way to visit Toph and had rescued her in the nick of time, carrying her back into the headquarters and giving her mother a stern lecture about letting toddlers wander around unsupervised and _blindfolded._

“What the flame-o is going on Toph?” he asked, pausing for breath.

“I was fine! I could sense the cart coming.” Lin protested, wriggling to be put down. “I would’ve gotten out the way.”

“You can seismic sense already can you?” Aang gasped. “You’re going to be a powerful bender, just like your mother.” He tossed her up in the air and gently airbent to keep her hovering there as she crowed in delight.

Her mother only snorted. “Don’t wish turning out like me on the kid, twinkletoes.”


	2. I Didn’t Pick The Battles, The Battles Picked Me

Lin wasn’t nervous on her first day of school, merely aware that as the daughter of the Police Chief she should probably try not to get into trouble. The problem was the other kids, also being aware that she was the daughter of the Police Chief, seemed determined that she should. But she’d been able to seismic sense reasonably accurately for a year now and avoided their numerous attempts at sneak attacks. She could also earth bend a little and when she got too frustrated by them, bent a column of earth into each of their faces simultaneously.

Which was how she found out about the strict “No Bending” policy the school had.

“I didn’t KNOW I wasn’t supposed to bend against the other kids!” Lin protested the moment she saw her mother walking up to her as she sat outside the office on the last day of her first week. “They never told me.” She gestured angrily at the door of the office just as it opened to reveal the headteacher.

“We’ve never had to tell the younger children before. They’re not usually as adept at bending as your daughter seems to be.” The head teacher invite her mother in, leaving Lin outside, kicking her heels angrily against the seat.

“Kid I could feel your anger from across the room and through a locked door.” Her mother was laughing when she came back out. “I get that you’ve gotta stand up for yourself against bullies, but no more bending at school. Now c’mon.”

Lin stomped all the way home, muttering under her breath about what was the point of bending then if it wasn’t to stand up to bullies?

The kids who’d tried to sneak up on her taunted her endlessly all of the next week for getting into trouble, delighted that they’d still achieved their goal. And eventually it wound Lin up and she lashed out. Obeying the rules, she never bent a single bit of earth, she just punched the most annoying kid right in the nose. The resulting brawl, 7 against 1, meant her mother was called in for the second time in as many weeks.

“Did you win at least?” her mother asked, her hand on the door handle.

“’course.” Lin scowled. She sat outside the office, bloodied and unrepentant, arms folded and staring at the wall in disgust at the lack of justice in the world. She couldn’t read her mother’s expression when she came out. She silently followed her down the hall and home.

“Kid. We gotta talk.” Her mother sat down on the floor and gestured for Lin to sit too. “You’ve made a bad start at school, but it can’t go on.”

The door opened and Katara walked in with her children in tow.

“The other kids hate me. I don’ know why.” Lin sighed as she allowed Katara to heal her swollen nose and black eye.

“Kid you need two lessons. One, how to win a fight without bending AND without getting hurt. And two, how to get along with people.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Lin snorted. “When they’re all so stupid anyways?”

Katara laughed. “Well it helps you to get through the world if you have friends. It makes the battles easier.”

“I won without any help at all!” Lin scoffed arrogantly.

She watched as Katara glanced at her mother. “Well, if the kids at school aren’t your type, why don’t you hang out with mine? Tenzin’s your age.”

“An’ I can teach you how to fight without bending.” Bumi looked up from where he was sprawled on the floor.

“Really?” Lin perked up.

“Been fightin’ without bendin’ all my life.” Bumi jumped up and threw a few punches into the air.

“Bumi, I’m not entirely sure…” Katara began.

“Perfect! Solves all our problems.” Her mother grinned.

Katara sighed heavily and finished healing the scrape on Lin’s cheek with a flourish. “Great.” She brightened suddenly. “In that case, Toph, could you look after the kids tonight? Aang’s got to attend a function. Something Sokka is doing with the other council members.”

“Wait what??” her mother startled. “And hey! How come I wasn’t invited?”

“Thanks Toph!” Katara smiled and walked out.

The four kids turned as one to look at Toph. She grinned. “Step one foot out of line and you’re all spending the night in a police cell.”

_“Tenzin was good as gold. He can come visit whenever he wants.” Toph reassured her when Katara came by the police station the next morning to collect her children._

_“And Bumi and Kya?”_

_Toph snorted and led the way down to the cells._

_“Toph…” Katara was about to get angry but they turned down another corridor to where there was a training room for the force._

_Kya was sat on a bench, her arms folded, watching Bumi and Lin fight. Bumi had the reach but Lin was smaller and quicker._

_“Hey mom!” Bumi looked over at them and waved. Lin took advantage of his distraction and kicked his legs out from underneath him._

_“Have they been fighting all night??”_

_“No. They took a break for dinner and probably slept at some point.” Toph shrugged._

_Katara looked at the children thoughtfully. “You know, maybe next time I should take Lin to Air Temple Island.”_

_“Sounds great.” Toph clapped Katara on the shoulder. “How about tonight then?”_

_Katara sighed but supposed that was fair payback._


	3. First Flight

Lin loved Air Temple Island from the very first visit. It was quiet after the noise and bustle of the city. And she could run around barefoot and not have to worry about getting glass in her feet. Aang seemed a little surprised to see her when she bounded into the temple after his kids but Katara whispered something in his ear and he smiled and immediately bent down on one knee in front of her as she paused to say hello.

“Wanna see a trick?” he waggled his eyebrows.

His own kids groaned in unison, but Lin was curious and nodded. She gazed on as the Avatar spun marbles between his hands. She stared at them for a moment then looked him dead in the eyes. “Can you fly?”

His face dropped but he nodded. “On my glider, yes.”

“I wanna fly.”

Aang seemed a little bemused but took her by the hand and walked her out to a balcony. Katara reappeared with a small harness which Aang buckled on. Lin jumped up and strapped herself in.

Bumi, Kya and Tenzin all crowded to watch.

“Bet she screams.” Bumi said.

“Bet she doesn’t.” Kya took the bet.

“It’s _Dad._ She’ll be perfectly safe!” Tenzin rolled his eyes.

The glider seemed huge as it opened up above them and Lin took a deep breath as Aang stepped onto the balcony and then leapt. A gust of wind caught them before they could fall far, and her stomach got left behind along with any fear as they swooped out over the island and then the ocean.

“THIS IS AMAZING!!” she yelled.

“Want to do a loop?” he shouted back.

“YEAH!!” the wind was making her eyes water a little, but she whooped with elation as they soared in a gentle circle.

They landed in the courtyard to the sounds of a heated argument going on. Bumi loudly pointing out that she _had_ screamed and Kya yelling that technically yes but only with glee. Aang had to play peacemaker and agreed that it was more yelling than screaming and that _they shouldn’t be gambling in the first place!_

Lin liked the vegetarian food and enjoyed training with Bumi; Kya keeping an eye on the two of them under her mother’s orders. And they gave her plenty of opportunity to practice her healing skills. But she liked Tenzin the best. He didn’t make fun of her in anyway whatsoever. No practical jokes like Bumi, no snarkiness like Kya. She realised very quickly that this was because his older siblings made fun of him so much. He knew what it was like, he knew he didn’t like it so he didn’t dole it out on anyone else. He had a strong sense of justice and fair play which she shared, and she quickly found herself relaxing around him, in a way she didn’t even around her own mother. There was nothing to look out for from Tenzin, no sneak attack or harsh words. He was kind, like his father and surprisingly easy-going, for someone who didn’t like to break the rules.

Her mother seemed to have enjoyed the night off from looking after her; she was humming to herself when Lin walked in.

“I liked it there. I might spend more time there.” Lin said as a way of greeting, sipping at the glass of juice her mother had put on the table.

“Glad to hear it.”

Lin frowned, not entirely sure which sentence her mother was replying to.


	4. Falling Without Style

A few months later, on her now regular visit to the Island, Aang wasn’t there. Katara tried to explain that he was away on important business, being all Avatar-ish and diplomatic but Lin was still disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to fly. She looked forward to her trips on the glider as the highlight of her life.

Bumi had come to find her, knowing she was visiting, wondering why she hadn’t come for a sparring session. She’d been curled up at the edge of the courtyard, not sulking because that would be stupid but suddenly devoid of any urge to do anything.

“You’ll have to come here when Lord Zuko visits! He’s got a dragon.” Bumi told her when he finally got her to explain why she was down. “I bet riding that thing beats being strapped to a rickety old glider any day.” He chuckled, nudging her in the ribs.

“Haven’t you ever ridden it?” Lin asked, captivated by the idea.

“Nah.” Bumi shrugged.

“Bumi doesn’t like flying.” Kya wandered out and grabbed him in a headlock, ruffling his hair.

“Flying is fine! It’s the falling part I don’t like.”

“You’ve never fallen once!” Kya snorted.

“I think I’ll leave all that flying business to Tenzin.” Bumi eyed his brother as he too joined them in the courtyard. “Our little airbender.”

“Hey Tenzin!” Kya turned to greet her brother. “Lin’s miserable cos Dad isn’t here to take her flying. Why don’t you take her up on your glider?” she winked at Bumi. 

“My glider’s too small for two people, Kya.” Tenzin explained patiently. “And even if it weren't, I've never flown with someone before. It wouldn't be safe."

“Why not? You’re both tiny.” Bumi got up with a grin and walked over to pat his brother’s bald head.

Tenzin sighed, ducking away from his brother’s hand and walking off with as much dignity as he could muster. Lin followed him, not in the mood for sparring anyway and inspired by Bumi and Kya’s idea.

“Hey!” she caught up with Tenzin as he was entering his room. “I know we wouldn’t both fit on your glider, but I could fly on it and you could blow.”

“I don’t blow air, Lin. I bend it.” Tenzin explained patiently.

“Bend it then.” Lin rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t sound safe.”

“C’mon! I trust you. And even if I do fall, it’s called a _GLIDER_ I’ll just glide down.” Lin grabbed his glider from the corner of his room and went to the window. “How’d you even open it?” she frowned.

He flicked it open for her with a despairing sigh. She grabbed the bar and looked down, admitting if only to herself that it was slightly scarier than when she flew with Aang. She gulped and was about to give in when she saw Bumi and Kya come into Tenzin’s room. That settled it. She hopped onto the broad windowsill and then launched herself into thin air.

“HEY WAIT!!” she heard Tenzin panic as she fell, felt the glider jerk around as Tenzin desperately tried to bend air to control what alas was a fall rather than flying.

“LIN!!” Bumi and Kya seemed to be yelling after her too.

She was getting proficient at basic earth bending but this was going to require some finesse. She let herself dangle from the glider, ready so that the minute she felt earth she could bend a ramp downwards. She abandoned the glider completely as she did so and, flicking her wrist, made it smooth so she could slide down, desperately bending more earth out the way even as she scrabbled to slow herself down. She ended up in a half stunned and breathless ball at the end of a long tunnel. She could sense through her hands and feet the pounding of running footsteps somewhere far above her, heard her name shouted in a variety of hues of panic. She stayed where she was, getting her breath back but also enjoying the sensation of being hidden away underground.

“LIN!!” that was Tenzin bellowing down the tunnel.

She sighed and started crawling back up to the top, too tired now to earth bend. Eventually she looked up into the horrified faces of Tenzin and Bumi. They were swiftly shoved aside by Kya who checked her over.

“Well. You haven’t broken anything that I can tell.” Kya whistled in relief. “C’mon, let’s get you inside before anyone sees.”

“Um. Lin. Probably should…” Bumi gestured to the impromptu tunnel and Lin managed one last bit of earth bending to collapse it. 

They thought they’d gotten away with it, but when they walked through the door to the living area, they found Katara standing there, arms folded and looking stern. Toph was flopped on the sofa, with a strange look on her face.

“Uhh. This looks like Bender stuff. So I’m just gonna…go.” Bumi said, having the advantage of being the last one through the door and therefore being able to flee without impediment.

“I checked her over! And she’s fine.” Kya grinned nervously.

“Hm? Why, what happened?” Katara raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing. I’m gonna go too. Practice my bending.” She followed Bumi out the door with alacrity.

“You should go too Tenzin. Your father should be back soon.” Katara nodded at the last child standing with Lin.

Tenzin shared a worried look with Lin and left her with Toph and Katara. She folded her arms, aware that her clothing was ripped and dirty and she was probably covered in scrapes.

“Looks like you’ve been in the wars. Brawling with Bumi again?” Katara asked. Her voice seemed suspiciously kind. “I’ll heal you once we’ve had a chat with your mother.”

Lin was completely confused now and went and sat by her mother. “What’s going on?”

Her mother shifted uncomfortably, as if she was the one in trouble.

“You’re going to have to tell her at some point Toph.” Katara folded her arms again.

“I’m pregnant kid.”

When Lin just looked baffled, Katara explained. “Your mother’s going to have a baby. A sister for you if I’m any judge.”

“Half-sister.” Her mother corrected awkwardly.

Lin scowled in thought. “I don’t understand.”

“It means your dad isn’t the same as your sister’s dad.”

“Dad?”

“Toph! Didn’t you explain anything to the girl?” Katara scolded. “Well, you know how Aang is the father of Bumi, Kya and Tenzin. And I’m their mother. And Toph is your mother and your dad…” Katara glanced at her mother who didn’t add anything. “Well your dad isn’t here.”

“I have a dad? Like Aang?”

Katara sighed. “That’s something for your mother to talk to you about. But your new sister’s dad isn’t your dad. So you’re going to be half-sisters.”

“I think she’s got it Katara.” Her mother looked grumpy. Grumpier than usual. “Ready to go home kid?”

“But I’m staying here tonight.” Lin pointed out.

“Not anymore. C’mon.”

Lin looked at Katara who merely shrugged and gestured for her to follow her mother. It was a silent journey back to the mainland but when they got home, she immediately started badgering her mother with questions, as Toph tried to get started on dinner.

“Who was he? Is he like Aang? Can he bend? What kind of bender is he? When can I meet him? Where is he?”

“It doesn’t matter who he is, kid, he ain’t here now and that’s it.”

“But I could have a dad! Like Aang!”

“No. You couldn’t. And he certainly isn’t like Aang.”

“So what about my sister’s dad? Is he going to be my dad now then?” Lin couldn’t quite work that out, but she’d have some sort of dad at least.

“No. You’re not gonna have a dad. And neither is your sister.” Toph banged a pot down hard and Lin didn’t ask any more.


	5. Dragonflight

The truth about Lin’s cuts and scrapes came out a few days later and nobody was best pleased. Her mother thought she should’ve had more sense, Katara and Aang gave her a long lecture about how she could’ve been hurt, and Tenzin was unwilling to help her with even the least of her ideas, which made her visits to Air Temple Island a little less inviting than they had been.

She was lucky though. A few weeks later, her mother was invited to an important meeting on Air Temple Island and took Lin with her. It was an important meeting which meant Lord Zuko was there too. Which meant Lin finally got to see a dragon. The moment Zuko had gone in to talk to Aang, Lin rushed out with Bumi and Kya and Tenzin. The dragon stared at her, but she merely stared back and after a small nod of the dragon’s head in acknowledgement, and to the accompaniment of hissed orders to stop and gasping, she climbed up the dragon’s leg to sit astride his neck.

“Yip yip!” She cried.

“Dragons aren’t like air bison, Lin. They don’t do yip yip.” Tenzin explained patiently from the ground.

She frowned for a moment, unsure what to do but not wanting to give in just yet. The dragon seemed unperturbed at her presence so she stayed.

“Do you want a ride?” a voice asked.

The other three children whipped round and stood to approximate attention as Lord Zuko wandered out towards them, a flustered looking Aang in tow.

“Yes!” Lin’s eyes gleamed.

“Lin.” Her mother joined them and was about to order her down but Zuko was already mounting his dragon and taking her up in the air.

It was an entirely different sensation to flying by glider, feeling the warmth of the beast beneath her, the motions of a living being, not to mention being able to see more. Zuko took her on a lap of the entire bay in silence, letting her drink in the experience.

“For an earth bender, she sure spends half her life with her head in the clouds.” Toph sighed at Zuko as he dismounted after landing.

“I think you just made a friend for life there Zuko.” Aang laughed.

Lin climbed down more slowly, still lost in the awe of the flight.


	6. Sister-Lin Love

As the months passed, and her mother’s stomach grew, Lin questioned her mother again about her father. But her mother was no more forthcoming and eventually snapped at Lin to shut up about it. Frustrated, Lin asked Aang on one of her ever more frequent stays on Air Temple Island, but he seemed to know no more than she did, and the sad expression on his face as he apologised for his lack of answers, stopped her pressing him further.

The time wore on, filled with flights with Aang and the occasional madcap scheme to be able to fly independently, which never got off the ground. And then her mother was taken to Air Temple Island ready and, with the help of Katara, her half-sister was born.

Lin waited patiently for news, unperturbed and mostly curious as to what having a little sister would be like.

She asked Bumi. “What’s it like having a younger sister?”

“Pretty good most of the time.” Bumi shrugged. “She gives good hugs.” He grinned as Kya flung her arms around him and squeezed.

“And being an older sister?” Lin asked Kya, when Bumi managed to extricate himself.

“You want my advice? You gotta teach the younger one who’s boss. Otherwise they’ll walk all over you. Right, Tenzin?”

Lin looked at Tenzin, who didn’t look capable of walking over a bug. “What’s it like being the youngest sibling?”

He gazed at her with world weary expression. “You get used to it.”

Lin gazed between the three of them. None of their information seemed useful. But at that moment she was called to come and meet Suyin and she figured she’d find out for herself soon enough.

Katara lifted her up to sit by her mother, who was led there looking exhausted. Lin took the opportunity to snuggle into her mother’s side, enjoying the moment of closeness, before looking dubiously at the little bundle. She poked at it. But her heart melted when a hand shot out and curled round her finger.

“Uhh. Hi. Suyin. I’m your big sister, Lin.”

“Hopefully, you’ll be less trouble than your big sister.” Her mother muttered. 

Katara snorted. “Good luck with that Toph. She is _your_ kid after all.”

“What’s that meant to mean? Besides, she can’t do much worse than throwing herself off a building without any ability to airbend or beating up half the kids at school.”

Lin rolled her eyes, exasperated that her mother was _still_ going on about that. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect her so she doesn’t get into trouble with kids at school like I did.”

“I would like to see that.” Her mother laughed.

“I can fight now!” Lin protested. “And they’ve learnt to leave me alone. And they’ll learn pretty quick to leave my sister alone.” She growled.

“Kid, protecting someone isn’t just about fighting.”

Lin didn’t understand the sentiment, particularly not from her mother. Toph protected people by fighting all the time. It was practically her _job_.

But after a few months helping her mother look after Suyin, she thought she was beginning to understand. She had to be responsible, she had to sacrifice things, such as her trips to Air Temple Island. And she had to care for someone. None of them required a single punch to be thrown. They required thoughtfulness and consideration and gentleness. Lin found out that she wasn’t particularly good at any of them. Much like her mother, she reflected. In fact, Lin considered looking after Suyin _really_ disgusting sometimes.

“How did you cope with me as a baby when you didn’t have me to help you?” Lin groaned at her mother as she helped give Suyin yet another bath.

“With difficulty.” Her mother smirked. “But Aang and Katara helped a little.”

“Babies are _too_ much work.” Lin sneezed as Suyin splashed water at her. “Why’d you even want to have them?”

“Well it’s not like I planned to, kid.” Toph shrugged. “You were an accident.”

Lin froze, a baffling array of emotions colliding inside her at this new information. She watched her mother gently pick Suyin out the bathtub and wrap her in a towel.

“Can you put all the stuff away? I’ll drain the bath later.” Her mother called back.

Lin carefully put everything away in their precise place, not wanting to cause an accident and then went to her room, sitting on her bed with her knees tucked up under her chin, staring at the wall opposite her, listening to the mutterings of her mother as she drained the bath.

“Quiet time now okay kid? Suyin’s asleep.” Her mother whispered, poking her head through Lin’s door.

“Sure.”

Whether it was through her seismic sense or something else, her mother apparently sensed something was troubling Lin. “What’s the matter? You comin’ down with something?”

“No.” Lin closed her eyes as her mother touched a hand to her forehead.

“You can’t be scared to go to sleep. Not at your age. Unless Bumi’s been terrifying you with stories again.”

“I’m not scared of Bumi’s stories.” Lin scoffed. She dove underneath her blanket and curled up.

“Then what’s wrong?” Her mother playfully shook her.

“Get off!” Lin re-emerged in an instant, flinging an arm out.

“Ow.” Toph grimaced and held her nose. “Okay kid.”

Lin had only meant to wave her mother off not hit her, but Toph was already getting up and walking away.

“Sorry!” Lin yelled after her mother. “It was an accident! Like me!”

Her mother paused in the doorway but Suyin started wailing, woken by Lin’s angry voice and Toph disappeared off to calm her other daughter down. Knowing her mother wouldn’t thank her for making any more noise, Lin snarled silently at the wall, pulling faces as she tried not to cry.

She’d cried herself half to sleep when she heard the door to her room open again and felt a weight sit on her bed. It shifted to curl up behind her. “Happy accident, kid. Happy accident.” Her mother murmured in her ear as she gathered Lin up in a loose hug.

Lin sniffed. “Did I hurt your nose?”

“Yep. Got one hard punch on you, kid.” Her mother laughed softly. “Now I know how those kids at your school felt.”

“I didn’t _mean_ to.”

“Don’t sweat it, kid. I’ll ask Katara to heal it tomorrow. I’ll tell her I got in a fight with some gang members or something, make it sound more badass than I got hit by my own kid.” Toph joked, squeezing Lin tight.

“Pfft. You’re always badass.” Lin gave a small grin.

“Right about that kid. Where do you think you inherited it from?” Toph ruffled Lin’s hair and went to get up again. Lin’s arm shot out again but only to grab her mother’s arm. It’d been years since she’d needed Toph’s presence to sleep but tonight... “Alright Lin.” Her mother led back down and curled up with Lin again. “But no hogging the blanket.”

“And no snoring.” Lin yawned the traditional reply.


	7. Same Deep Water As Me

Lin had learnt a lot of earth bending in the two years since Suyin had been born. She’d learnt a lot of fighting too but the other children at school had long ago given up trying to jump her. These days they mainly ignored her; Lin hadn’t considered them worth the time to make up for those early days of animosity and they’d lost interesting in trying. She had lost her reputation among the teachers as a troublemaker and was seen as a withdrawn, dependable child, although she was more likely to be seen sitting on the top of the highest climbing frames gazing at clouds or swinging off the monkey bars than studying in the library.

Now Suyin was slightly older, Lin's visits to Air Temple Island had increased again. She was too big to fit in the glider harness anymore but Aang treated her to trips on Appa when the weather was fine. Bumi was a teenager by now and wasn’t often there, hanging out with his own friends from school, but he’d always greet Lin with a yell and a bear hug whenever he saw her; the only person she tolerated such treatment from. But it was Kya and Tenzin she mainly spent her time with. And Tenzin was always eager to spend time with Lin; as he put it, “Kya doesn’t beat me up when you’re here.”

Lin was unsure what to make of that as a state of affairs.

On rare occasions, Tenzin would be away with Aang, visiting other air temples, and Lin would hang out with Kya. After a few stilted attempts at conversation, Kya looked out the window. “C’mon. You’ve learnt all about fighting and flying. Time for my element. Want to learn how to swim?”

Lin shrugged. She was a sponge for new information and although she’d never had much interest in water, beyond drinking it and washing in it, it was something to fill the awkward silence that was usually filled with sibling bickering. Katara found her a swimming suit and she changed quickly before joining Kya on the pier.

“Ready?” Kya asked.

Lin didn’t hesitate in throwing herself into the water, knowing that with Kya’s playful nature, the waterbender was likely to drench her anyway or push her in. The cold water took her breath away and she surfaced spluttering and shivering. Kya sat down on the pier looking at her oddly.

“You really do just like throwing yourself off of things, don’t you…” she grinned as she slid into the water in a far more dignified fashion.

Lin shrugged, paddling a little frantically to keep her head above water.

“You don’t have to try that hard. C’mon. Lean back and you’ll float.”

Lin did so, and promptly sank. 

“I’m an _EARTH_ bender. Floating isn’t my natural state.” Lin protested as she hauled herself onto the pier to the sound of Kya laughing.

“Are you kidding me? Your head is in the clouds so much it must be full of air. That should make it easy for you!” Kya splashed water at her.

Lin stuck her tongue out, stood up and then jumped into the air, tucking herself into a ball and smashed into the water next to Kya.

“You _do_ realise as a waterbender that doesn’t bother me right?” Kya shook her head as Lin resurfaced nearby. “C’mon. Try again.”

Lin sighed but tried to let her legs rise up, kicking slightly.

“No, no. Look up!” Kya grabbed Lin’s head and tugged it backwards. “Look at the sky! Your favourite place.”

It was like magic, Lin thought, as she felt her legs float up. She closed her eyes, enjoying the way having her ears underwater muffled sound. The water tugged and pulled around her, but she could still feel Kya’s hand underneath her head. It tugged at her hair suddenly and she started, flailing in the water.

“I was getting bored.” Kya shrugged in answer to Lin’s scowl. “Do you want to try diving now? Or we could race? No bending, I promise.” She grinned.

Lin opted for diving, but as much as she’d struggled to stay afloat now she struggled to get herself under the water. Kya had to drag her under, but she couldn’t see very well and couldn’t hold her breath for long.

“Water isn’t your element is it.” Kya sat beside her on the pier, the pair of them wrapped in towels to keep warm after Kya had bent the water off them.

“Water’s fine.” Lin fell backwards with a thud and stared up at the sky.

“But you’d sooner be flying.”

“You don’t like flying?”

Kya followed suit, flopping down on the pier. “It’s just…being the daughter of Aang but not an airbender. I mean, I know you’re the daughter of Toph and you don’t metalbend but you could learn! But…”

Lin stood up again suddenly. “Teach me to swim. Properly. So I can race.”

Kya blinked in surprise, baffled by the sudden turn in conversation. “Sure.”

Lin was never able to beat Kya, no matter how much they swam together, even with the promise of no waterbending, and she never truly got the hang of diving but she enjoyed floating, the sensation of weightlessness similar enough to flying to ease the ache that sometimes built up in her chest, the yearning for the sky.


	8. Bent Into Shape

Kya’s comment about not being able to metalbend stayed with Lin and the very next morning she sat in the courtyard of the Air Temple, trying to bend a pan she’d stolen from the kitchen. It was Aang who found her and sat down next to her, enquiring as to what she was doing.

“What does it look like?” The lack of success at her task made Lin’s temper shorter than usual and she tossed the pan across the courtyard.

“You know, none of the people who cook with that pan are going to be very happy if anything happens to it.” Aang deftly airbent it to safety before it could hit the ground. Lin collapsed backwards and grunted. “Hmm. I don’t think even my airbending can get that black cloud to go away.”

“What cloud? It’s a perfect morning.” Lin sat back up with another grunt, waving a hand at the clear blue sky. 

“The one over your head.” Aang placed the pan on Lin’s head and it slipped down over her eyes. It earnt him a grudging smile. “I’m surprised your mother isn’t starting you off with something smaller.”

“Mom doesn’t know anything about it. I was just trying it out.”

“Your mother is the first and best metalbender on the planet. I’m sure if you ask, she’ll be delighted to teach you. And I might have just the thing for you to practice with.” He held out a hand and helped her up.

After depositing the pan back in the kitchen, Aang led the way to his room and brought out a small wooden box. “Toph made these for me as a present. But I much prefer my marbles.” He idly span the large ballbearings between his hands. “Practice until you can do this too. Only using metalbending of course.” Aang dropped the ball bearings into Lin’s cupped hands.

Toph seemed surprised at Lin’s request for metalbending training. “Smart kid like you, I thought you’d be able to figure it out yourself.”

“I tried it. Didn’t work.” Lin shrugged. “Aang said I should ask you.”

Toph sat down on the floor of the basement, Suyin immediately crawling into her lap. “Hmm. Well…inside of metal. Is earth. And if you can bend that earth, you can bend metal.” She shrugged. Lin waited. “That’s about it.”

Lin flopped down opposite her mother. “That’s it?”

“C’mon. Help me give Suyin a bath.”

With a sigh, Lin trailed after her mother.

“Metal, see?” Toph tapped the tub. “Try and feel the earth in it. Close your eyes if you want. Might help.”

Lin sat down by the tub, closed her eyes and put her hand on the rim. Sensing earth was easy; she could feel it most everywhere she went, like a tug. She tugged now, trying to sense any earth in the vicinity and was surprised when she felt water around her feet. She opened her eyes to find Suyin staring at her through the hole in the side of the bathtub. She’d bent an entire strip out of it. Her mother gently bent it back.

“See? You can metalbend. Now, seeing as I doubt you can waterbend, can you fetch a cloth?” there were several notes of amusement in her mother’s voice.

Lin scowled, frustrated that she’d got it wrong and hastily mopped up the spilt water while her mother finished Suyin’s bath.

The next evening she spent at Air Temple Island, holed up in the library with Tenzin. He was poring over some ancient airbending texts, whilst she got out the ballbearings to practice. Tenzin politely suggested starting off with just one ballbearing, after she tried to do all three at once, resulting in one getting away from her and smacking him in the eye

“Sorry Tenzin.” Lin sighed as Kya held back her laughter long enough to heal her brother’s eye.

“I would’ve thought you’d want to do more exciting metalbending than Dad’s old trick.” Kya finished with a flourish of water.

“It’s an exercise in control, Kya. That’s important.” Tenzin explained to his sister. “Very important.” He rubbed at his eye as Lin rolled hers.

It took another week of diligent practice to perfect it and the moment she did, she rushed off to tell Aang.

“Uncle Aang!!” She pelted through the doorway into the living room, skidding to a halt when she saw all the council members assembled, along with her mother.

“What is it Lin? What’s the matter?” Aang stood up.

In front of the other grownups, she clammed up and shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Excuse me for a moment.” Aang apologised to the other people and shooed her out the room, closing the door behind them. “So! What is it?” He knelt down in front of her with an encouraging look on his face.

She perked up instantly. “LOOK!” She brought up the ball bearings and spun them between her hands. The grin on Aang’s face was well worth whatever her mother would say about interrupting important meetings. She slid the ball bearings back into her pocket and laughed with him as he picked her up and hugged her.

“Amazing Lin! Such skill at metalbending already. I’m so proud.” He ruffled her hair. “Thanks for cheering me up. I needed that with the way this meeting is going. But I’d better get back to it.”

She beamed at him and then ran off, making the ball bearings orbit around her, her own personal solar system.

Later on, when her mother came to collect her, she expected a lecture but Toph seemed preoccupied with the meeting and keeping Suyin quiet. And as her mother never asked, Lin never got round to telling her.

It was such a simple trick anyway, Lin told herself. Not telling her mother meant she had time to get really good at metalbending. She moved onto the more “exciting” metalbending, bending the ball bearings into a wire and whipping it round her as she’d seen her mother do. She had given herself more than a few bruises on the way to becoming more dextrous in her actions. And when she declared herself able to control the wire smoothly, she roped Tenzin into helping her set up targets and practiced with them every time she visited. Blocks of wood or paper figures that she would cut in two or pick up and throw them across the room. And when she got really good, she had Tenzin stand on the spot with a piece of fruit on his head. She’d aimed to pick it up, but the wire cut it in half instead.

“Lucky you’ve got a bald head!” she grinned as she sluiced the juice off him.

“Lucky. Yes.” He rolled his eyes. “I think you’ve mastered this trick now.”


	9. Pride Before During and After A Fall

It was at home that she first tried rappelling, figuring that this was the action that could go most wrong and therefore, required the least amount of witnesses, as much as it might also require Kya for emergency healing. Or Katara if it went really wrong. Her mother was staying late at work, and Su was safe in her room, already asleep. Perfect. She bent the ball bearings into the wire and attached the wire to her belt, whipping the other end to dig into the ceiling. She gave a couple of experimental tugs, but it held. 

Right." she took a deep breath. 

She had no way to retract the wire so bent it round her wrist as she went, bending far too fast and faceplanting the ceiling. She lost concentration and the wire detached from the ceiling and she fell to the floor. She led flat on her back, winded, wheezing desperately to get breath back into her body. Suyin toddled up, having been woken by the thud and stared down at her.

“I’m okay Su!” Lin lifted a hand and patted her on the cheek. “I just need to work on it that’s all.” She got up slowly, groaning and wincing, already dreading the soreness the fall would cause the next day. She limped slowly alongside Su to put her back to bed then eased herself into her own and went to sleep.

“What’ve you done kid? You’re limping.” Toph greeted her the next morning the moment she walked into the kitchen.

Lin didn’t bother lying; she’d learnt long ago that her mother could always tell when she was. “I fell off the ceiling.”

There was a moment’s pause. “The ceiling.”

“Yup.” Lin heaved a sigh as she sat down.

“And you’ve hurt your leg.”

Pride didn’t want her to admit it, but her ankle was swollen and aching. “Yup.”

There was another moment of silence. “C’mon kid.” Toph knelt down in front of Lin with her back to her. “Save you limping, be a limpet sloth. A Lin-pet sloth.” Toph laughed at her own joke.

Lin hopped off the chair onto one foot and then flung her arms around her mother’s neck, clinging on, just like a limpet sloth, until Toph could hook her arms around Lin’s legs. “Let’s get you fixed up.”

Despite the soreness of her ankle, Lin enjoyed the piggyback ride to Air Temple Island; Su toddling in front of them, at the end of a length of wire. Lin squeezed her arms tight across Toph’s shoulders in a hug, relieved her mother wasn’t angry.

“What’s she done this time?” Kya had come to meet them off the ferry.

“Fell off a ceiling.” Toph grinned.

“You mean a roof.” Kya glanced at Lin who merely buried her face in Toph’s neck.

“Nope. A ceiling.”

Kya walked with them up the steps. “How?” she asked eventually.

“Haven’t asked yet.” Toph shrugged.

Kya gave up on her interrogation and left to get her mother.

They sat in Katara’s healing room, Lin relaxing as the water flowed over her ankle and seemed to dissolve the pain almost instantaneously. She allowed Katara to check her over completely, after admitting she felt bruised on her back as well.

“Me too! Me too!” Suyin escaped from her mother and held up her arms to Katara.

“What? Are you injured too?” Katara swept her up with a laugh.

“No!”

Katara checked Su over anyway before depositing her back in Toph’s lap. “She’s getting big. You’ll have both of them bending soon.”

“Don’t remind me.” Toph groaned. “Then I’ll have two of them falling off ceilings.”

“Ceilings?” Katara was as puzzled as her daughter.

Lin slumped in her chair as three pairs of expectant eyes stared at her and four pairs of expectant ears waited.

“I was metalbending. I thought I could learn how to rappel down stuff. And up. But I went up too fast and hit the ceiling and then…”

“Came down to fast.” Toph finished. “What were you using?”

“The ballbearings Aang gave me.”

“You mean the ballbearings I gave Aang.” Toph corrected her. She seemed to think for a moment and then took one of the police wires, ever present around her waist, and held it out. “You might do better with this.”

“Toph! Don’t encourage her!”

“I thought that was the point!” Toph shrugged. “Weren’t you telling me just the other day to be more encouraging?”

Katara frowned. “Lin, why don’t you and Kya take Su and go play? While I have a word with your mother?”

Lin grabbed her sister’s hand and scarpered, before Katara or her mother could take away the wire.

“Are they fighting?” Kya looked back at the doorway that had been shut behind them.

Lin shrugged, looking out at the trees and running off, Suyin in tow. When she got to the nearest copse, she sat Su on the ground with the strictest of instructions to stay there. Then she earthbent herself up onto a branch. 

“What are you doing now?? You only just got healed.” Kya strolled up, her arms folded as she watched Lin wrap one end of the wire around the tree trunk and attach the box to her belt. Scowling with concentration and ignoring Kya’s expression, Lin bent the wire just enough to let a little out of the box. She jerked to a halt a foot from the branch. Tried it again, trying to smooth it out but she had to grab hold of the wire with one hand. It just didn’t work, attached to her belt, she felt too unbalanced. She tried retracting the wire, slowly and managed not to knock herself out on the branch.

She glanced down. She really needed Tenzin; he’d be able to make an aircushion. But it looked like he and Aang were off somewhere again. She sat for a moment, thinking and then tugged her belt up until it was under her arms. After a brief struggle, she undid it, attached the wire box to the back of her belt first and then buckled it back up. Made sure the wire was firmly around the branch, tested the branch for being able to take her weight, wanting no mistakes in front of a concerned looking Kya. The belt dug in as she hung down, suddenly aware that this was _not_ a dignified position.

“That’s…an interesting setup.” Kya raised an eyebrow.

Lin nodded. “It needs work.” She clambered back up onto the branch, ready now to make her attempt. She wished once more that Tenzin was there, he didn’t judge her for anything much, apart from covering him in fruit. Still, she took a deep breath and leapt from the branch, to a horrified cry from Kya. But her mother was right; it was far easier to control the wire with a reel box and she was smoother and quicker already in stopping the wire, only stumbling a little as she landed.

“ _Please_ tell me you’re okay.”

Lin nodded as she tugged her belt back down, satisfaction at her success soothing the irritation at having injured herself, although even that small stumble had made her foot ache again. She held out her hand to Su.

“I wanna leap too!” Su tugged at it.

“Don’t even think about it.” Kya got in ahead of Lin’s reply.

“Maybe when I’ve practiced a bit more Su.” Lin shrugged and they both followed Kya back to the temple.


	10. Lin of the

Her mother didn’t ask for her wire box back and Aang didn’t ask for his ballbearings back and Lin didn’t ask anyone what words had been spoken between Toph and Katara, just in case she got told and didn’t like it. Whatever had been said, she was still able to visit Air Temple Island and did so the next time she didn’t have to babysit Su.

Tenzin was there this time and was immediately harangued into coming with her. She showed him her work proudly. She’d taped the wirebox onto her belt, which she wore diagonally across her chest, so that the wirebox was just below one shoulder. The ballbearing wire was wrapped around her wrist.

“But what will it do Lin?” he asked as they snuck out into the woods.

“This!” She grinned and ran, launching herself into the air as she stuck her arm up, the wire from the wire box shooting up and wrapping itself round a tree branch. She retracted it a little as she swung and then flung out her other arm sending the ballbearing wire wrapping round the next tree trunk. Concentrating on the rhythm of retracting and spinning out the wires and finding the next convenient branch, she wasn’t aware at first of the shape gently gliding along beside her, swooping in between the trees. When she could risk a short glance sideways and saw Tenzin, she crowed with delight, despite her shoulders and arms beginning to ache from the jerking movement of swinging.

“LIN! WATCH OUT FOR THAT-”

The warning came too late and she smacked into the tree, her wires going limp and the last thing she remembered was falling.

“…broken and she…”

“Lin!”

There was an argument going on when she came round but it stopped as Tenzin called her name. She was back, she reflected, in the healing pool. But it was Kya’s face not Katara’s that was staring at her worriedly.

“I wasn’t throwing myself off of anything.” She pointed out in case that was the cause of the raised voices.

“Look. I can only do really basic healing! Cuts. Bruises. I’m not mom!” Kya snapped.

“But you said mom was really mad last time.” Tenzin pointed out.

“I’ve managed to stop the bleeding. That’s about it.”

“What bleeding?” The thought of blood alarmed Lin; she hadn’t realised a tree could do that much damage.

“Your wrist! You can metalbend. You’re not impervious to it.” Kya threw her own hands into the air in frustration. “You didn’t even notice.”

“We should probably get mom.” Tenzin sighed in defeat. “You hit that tree at quite some speed.”

Lin admitted, if only to herself, that she felt a little woozy but climbed out of the pool, aware that Tenzin was right and there would be a row if Katara found them.

“And just what are you kids doing in here?”

As she just had done. Lin stuck her hand behind her back and stood trying not to look as if she were still dripping wet.

“Lin hit a tree.” It was Kya who dumped Lin in it.

“You mean ran into a tree?”

“No.” Tenzin sighed and explained.

“Get back in the pool.” Katara was calm and quiet but her tone of voice was not to be argued with. “Now, Lin.”

This time her wire box was confiscated, and she was made to bend the ballbearings back into their original shape and return them to Aang, although Katara let her keep her belt. “If your mother wants it back, she can come collect it herself.” She brandished the wire box at Lin before walking off with it.

Lin shrugged. She wondered, as she sat on the deck of the ferry, why Katara thought that confiscating the wirebox was going to stop her. Metal was metal. It was easy enough to get hold of in a city. And her mother, being her mother, would probably just give her another one.

However, she dutifully delivered Katara’s message, and explained the reasons behind it when questioned.

“You hit a tree?” Toph snorted. “I told you, you can’t seismic sense in the air. You have to use your eyes.”

“I was! I was just…using them to see something other than the tree at the time.”

“I take it Katara healed you.” Toph put a plate of dinner down in front of Lin.

“Yup.”

“Not best pleased.” It wasn’t really a question.

“Nope.”

“Well, I still think the best way to learn is through trying things. That’s how I learnt to metalbend.” Her mother said sagely. “And I’ll say this for you kid, you never make the same mistake twice. You always seem to find completely new ones to make.”

Lin rolled her eyes. It wasn’t her fault that the mistakes always ended up being big ones. And the idea was still sound. However, she decided that it would probably be best if she steered clear of any major escapades for a while, in order to let the dust settle. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t work on the idea theoretically. And even though it had been her fault rather than the equipment, further ventures would go more smoothly with more specific designs. Besides, she still had to babysit Su who was now three years old and was beginning to bend, much to Lin’s delight and she ended up devoting a large amount of time to trying to teach her everything she knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is that a George of the Jungle reference? yes. Do I have any shame? no.


	11. A Metal Bird

With her evenings filled with training Su, Lin spent most of her time working on her designs at school. She’d need two wires, that much was obvious. And she’d need something for the boxes to be attached to. She sacrificed three belts and made them into a harness. Originally she’d thought two belts but after a brief experiment, realised they would dig in under her arms too much. No, one around the chest and two other the shoulders should make it stable. The wire box would sit just behind the shoulder, which should mean the wires would be in line with outstretched arms in any direction. She’d also need tough material, a leather jacket possibly and definitely gloves, not wanting her hands to be shredded again.

Scrap metal was easy enough to get hold off, as she’d predicted. It wasn’t stealing if it was from a skip, she told herself as she bent a broken fender from a mobile into wire and winding it carefully around the reels she'd made. It was practically recycling. The gloves were harder. In the end she took an old pair of winter gloves, cut the fingers off and wrapped them round with bandages and with big looping stitches, sewed it all together.

The next problem was practice space. She had fairly deft control of wires from practicing in the basement, as Suyin watched in awe from the top of the steps. But where could she practice swinging? The answer presented itself as she was walking home from school one day.

The next day, her harness and gloves in her school rucksack ready, she went to school. And on the way home, ducked down an alley and hastily put it on. She sent the wire shooting up, attaching it a chimney and then slowly climbed up until she was standing on the roof. She looked down on a myriad of chimneys, signs, fire escapes, a hundred and one points to attach a wire and swing. She started slowly at first, one swing at a time, careful to avoid people, but challenging herself to make it all the way home without her feet touching the ground. It was a lot safer, she argued with herself, than walking through the streets. And quicker. Particularly after a few weeks of practice.

It was the end of the third week of Lin travelling home by this method that her mother came stomping into the room. Lin was reading a story to Su, having already practiced their earth bending together, and they both looked up in surprise as the door slammed shut and Toph stormed over with her hand held out in front of her.

“Give it here.”

“What?” Lin tried for innocence.

“Don’t play games with me kid! First of all, I can tell you’re not innocent and second I’ve just had to deal with forty seven reports of someone swinging about Republic City. Just because I’m blind, doesn’t mean I can’t recognise descriptions of my own daughter. Give. It. Here.”

With a sigh Lin passed the book to Suyin to hold and went to her room, digging out her outfit from the bottom of the wardrobe. She hand it over to her mother with a sullen frown.

“Where did you get this from?” her mother’s voice seemed flat and unimpressed as she ran her hands over it.

“I made it.”

“Out of what? I didn’t give you any more metal.”

“I found some metal in a skip.”

“You _stole_ it?”

“It was in a skip! It was being thrown out.”

“That’s still stealing! Where was this skip?”

“I don’t remember! On my way home from school.”

Her mother sighed. “From now on you come straight to the station once you’ve finished school. Where I can keep an eye on you. I’ve got more than enough work to do at the moment without you adding to it with this.” She brandished the outfit at Lin and then went outside.

Lin heard the clang as it was thrown in the bin and sat back down on the floor. Su crawled back into her lap with the book but she no longer had the heart to read it and sat there silently turning the pages for her sister.

Lin sat moodily in the corner of her mother’s office the next day. Depression had given way to anger over night. She couldn’t do anything right and all she’d tried to do was be inventive! Do things differently. Do exciting things. What was it to the citizens of Republic City if she did go swinging about the rooves? She hadn’t damaged anything, hadn’t taken anything. Except for the metal. But it hadn’t even been noticed! It was, quite frankly, unfair. 

“Quit sulking kid. It’s audible.” Her mother called out.

Lin huffed as loudly as she could. “I’m bored.” She drummed her heels on the floor.

“Cut it out! Or I’ll lock you in a cell just to get some peace and quiet.”

Lin stared at her mother. And then stamped her foot down hard defiantly.

Her mother thumped her desk and then groaned and buried her head in her hands. After a moment, she opened a drawer and retrieved something from it before walking over and squatting down in front of Lin. Lin stared at her, uncertain, wondering what her mother was about to do.

Sighing, as it turned out and opening her hand to reveal a hunk of metal. She bent it into the shape of a star and Lin’s jaw dropped as she watched all the shapes her mother could make, her eyes glowing.

“Give it a try kid. Quietly.”

“Yes.” She practically snatched the metal from her mother’s hands. She tried the star, and then a flower and then an airbender glider, a saucepan, Sokka’s boomerang. She made a long snake and sent it slithering across the floor, winding around her mother’s bare feet, changing it into a rabbit that bounded across the floor, then a spider that scuttled across the desk until her mother caught it. Lin waited for the lecture that never came; instead she stood amazed by the small curve at the corner of her mother’s mouth. But it was the small bird that winged its way across the room from her mother’s hands that got her gasping in delight.

“Do more! Do more!” she leapt up, jumping about, trying to catch the metal bird as it swooped down at her head. It became a dragon and she stood and stared as it twisted and turned around her before plopping into her hair as a frog.

“Do more yourself kid. I gotta finish this report.” Her mother sat back down, running her fingers over a sheet of paper with yet another sigh.

Lin’s mind was aglow with the new possibilities of metalbending revealed to her and sat quietly until they went home. Her mother never asked for the metal back and deciding to honour that trust, Lin only used it for making small toys and figures for Suyin to play with, illustrating the stories that she read her with them.


	12. Celebrations

There was a gathering at Air Temple Island, to celebrate the anniversary of Republic City. Dressed in her best, but with the metal her mother had given her bent into a dragon armlet under her sleeve, she’d followed Toph, who was merely wearing her armour, into the big hall, which was full to crowding with people. She saw Lord Zuko along with Sokka and the other members of the council. Aang and Katara, and of course Bumi, Kya and Tenzin. But the rest were dignitaries she didn’t recognise. The room buzzed with the sound of talking and the orchestra playing, and she could feel the vibrations through her bare feet as people danced.

Her mother snorted as they stood in the entrance. “Even they came. Well what do you know.”

“Who?” Lin asked, holding tightly onto Suyin’s hand.

“Toph!” An elderly woman had spotted them and was waving.

“C’mon. Time to meet your grandparents.”

And they did seem grand, Lin thought as she stared up at the richly dressed couple who were babbling nonsense about how long it had been and how big the children were getting.

“It’s nice to finally meet you.” The man gazed down at Suyin, who bowed.

“And Lin! Of course, you probably don’t remember us.” The woman addressed Lin.

Lin shrugged, unsure how to politely answer that. But the woman’s smile was kind in reply. “She’s so much like you, Toph.”

“I hope not.” Her mother grinned but it seemed stiff. 

The woman introduced herself as Poppy and the man as Lao and together they guided Toph to a small table.

Poppy took Suyin onto her lap and started asking Toph questions, but Lao turned to Lin.

“I hear from your mother that you can metal bend now as well.” There was a hook in the sentence and Lin silently acquiesced, drawing the metal down her arm and sculpting it into a dragon, her favourite animal, not only for its flight but also because it was the year of her birth. “Wonderful!”

He seemed genuine in his awe and Lin took a liking to him as praise was not something she received in abundance. She chose to sit next to him at the long table when dinner was served. He looked mildly horrified at her lack of table manners but covered with a polite cough and began describing her mother’s metal bending school instead. “An entire new generation of earth bending talent. It’s quite an achievement. Particularly when you consider we thought when your mother wouldn’t be able to bend at all.”

“Why not?” Lin was surprised.

“I think I’d better put Suyin to bed.” Toph slung her other daughter onto her hip and walked off. “Have fun talking about me behind my back.”

Lao sighed but Poppy laughed. “It took us a while to realise your mother’s gifts.” She explained simply, in a way that didn’t explain anything at all.

“It is clear that you’ve inherited them.” Lao nodded towards Lin. “I hope your mother is teaching you well?”

Lin reviewed the lessons her mother had given her, which mainly consisted of “there’s earth in metal” and letting her walk about blindfolded. “Uhh…she’s busy at work a lot.”

“Well, she should hire a master then.” Lao seemed politely outraged. “We got her the very best, even though we thought she would not be able to learn.”

“Although she really learnt from the badgermoles.” Poppy cut in. “Not everyone learns well in a structured environment, Lao.”

“Badgermoles?”

“The original earth benders. Your mother used to…well we thought she was lost but really she ran away to train with them.”

Lin made several large mental notes, in case her mother ever commented on her misadventures again.

“I still think you would gain a benefit from a more traditional approach. Perhaps, when you come visit us, we could introduce you to a couple of highly respected earth bending teachers.” Lao mused, stroking his moustache.

“Yes! And then you can teach them all you know.” Poppy winked at Lin. “Show me the dragon again.” Her grandmother gestured to encourage her.

Lin felt an unusual urge to showboat and, bending the metal into a dragon figure, she made it walk slowly across the table. She was aware that there was a sudden lull in conversation but ignored it and concentrated on making the dragon fly up and then curl back around her arm.

“Impressive!” was the general theme of the mutterings up and down the table. Lin scowled awkwardly at the remains of her dinner, pushing around the last few bits of rice, waiting until the noise level returned to normal.

“Looks like dinner’s over now kid.” Her mother came up behind her. “Why don’t you go hang out with the others? You don’t wanna listen to my parents tell stupid stories about me all evening.”

It didn’t sound a bad way to spend the evening to Lin, but she took the hint and left to find Tenzin. Alas, he was being respectable and shadowing his father as Aang talked to what was probably everyone in the room in his role as Avatar. She couldn’t get Tenzin to leave even for a dance, or at least to watch people dance. She watched her mother for a while as Toph danced with Sokka and a few other men she didn’t recognise. She wondered briefly if anyone of them were her father. If they were, she wasn’t impressed. And neither was Toph by the looks, particularly when one of them stood on her foot. Lin grinned as she didn’t need to hear what Toph was saying. “and I thought I was the blind one.” She muttered to herself.

Eventually she spotted Bumi and Kya, but they were talking to a strange older girl she didn’t recognise, and she felt awkward joining the older kids. With Suyin already in bed, it left Lin at a loose end and she drifted to the outskirts of the hall, and eventually out the door. She sat on the relieving cool stone, staring up at the sky.

Someone came out and sat next to her.

“Sorry I can’t take you flying this evening.” Aang apologised.

“It’s been a while.” Lin didn’t mean to sound accusing but it did seem that Aang was away more and more frequently these days.

“In the morning, I promise. On Appa.” He grinned at the way she immediately perked up. “Come on. I don’t think you’ve ever met Izumi. She didn’t come with her father last time.”

She allowed Aang to guide her to where Bumi and Kya were now sat down with Izumi, deep in an apparently heated conversation.

“Hey Lin!” Bumi called out when he saw her. “Izumi doesn’t believe you can seismic sense as well as metal bend! I tried to tell her you’re like the second greatest earth bender in the world.”

“I _said_ I wouldn’t mind seeing a demonstration, Bumi. Not that I didn’t believe you.”

Lin shared a glance with Bumi who winked back at her and fell into a fighting stance. She tore the arm off her outfit and bound it around her eyes before following suit.

“I also don’t think it’s appropriate to be _fighting_ at a celebration of _peace_.”

“What? We’re not _going_ to be _fighting_.” Bumi copied Izumi’s use of italics. “This is…a dance! Just a peaceful dance. Right Lin?”

“If Dad catches us, he’s going to be mad.” Kya warned.

Lin sensed Kya move behind her and heard the “us”. Double attack then. She was glad she’d already abandoned the awful footwear long ago. And that the floor of the hall was stone, rather than wood. She shifted her stance slightly, waiting. She could practically feel the stare over her head and the small nod. _One either side._ She turned and felt the air shift as the attacks missed her. She leapt up as she sensed a leg sweep around, landed heavily and bent herself backwards into an arch to avoid a leg kicked high. She flipped her legs up and kicked out with her own leg, knocking it away, trying to sense now through her hands in a split second, trying to remember where the furniture had been. She let herself drop into a forward roll, knocking what felt like Bumi over. He lay sprawled on his face and seemed to be staying down. And now it was just her and Kya. And Kya was…on the table? Did she think that meant Lin couldn’t see her? The table was connected to the floor after all. Lin stood still, moving her head around as if she couldn’t sense Kya. And then the waterbender leapt. Can’t sense people in midair but she’d been standing on the table, facing Lin…

Lin ducked and rolled to one side, feeling the thud as Kya landed and then it was her turn to leap, and she grabbed the waterbender round the middle, tackling her to the ground.

“Kya! Lin! What do you think you’re doing?”

They struggled upright, each hampering the other. Lin whipped her blindfold off as she managed to stand up.

“We were just dancing, mom. And then y’know, Lin…she tripped! Yeah and she ended up grabbing me to stop herself falling but then…”

“They both fell over.” Bumi finished.

“You were dancing with a blindfold on?” Katara asked, her voice dripping disbelief.

“I was practicing my seismic sense.” It was not, technically, a lie. But Lin could feel all the signs that it was within her body. But Katara wasn’t her mother and couldn’t sense it. Hopefully. Lin, Bumi and Kya stood in a row and stared back at Katara. She could feel their nervousness too, it radiated through the floor.

“I think,” said Katara in a dangerous voice, “that it’s getting late. You should be in bed Lin.”

Lin nodded, taking the out that was being given to her and not even beginning to point out that Tenzin was still strolling around the party.

“You have some remarkable skills, Lin.” Izumi called out as Lin followed Katara across the hall. “You’ll have to show me more, some time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not read any comics so any info about Toph's parents is from the show and wiki apologies for any inaccuracies


	13. Getting Bent Out Of Shape

Having been forced to go to bed early, Lin woke up before dawn. Nobody seemed to be about, rare in a temple where early rising was the norm. She wandered to the window in her vest and pyjama shorts and saw light beginning to spill over the sea. She looked up at the tower, betting there was a far better view from up there. She grinned. She bound her arms up and climbed onto the windowsill. In one swift flick, she bent her metal into a wire and attached it as high as it would go onto one of the jutting rooves. She bent it again to lift her up in the air, kicking against the walls occasionally to stop herself bashing into them. It took her two more times to reach the very top, and she crowed to greet the dawn, flinging her arms wide, feeling the wind whip around her as her wire held her safe to the spire, feeling like the queen of the world.

The thuds of her ascent had apparently woken people up and they were now crowding outside in the small courtyard. She gazed down at them, irritated by their intrusion into her world, despite the fact their shouts and cries were unable to reach her. She saw a figure that must’ve been Aang unfold a glider and fly up to meet her. The idea that she needed rescuing angered her. She was more than capable of getting down if she wished to. Did they think a dragon had deposited her up here? Anger made her reckless. She waited until Aang was almost within reach, until she could see the stern expression on his face before flashing a grin at him and pushing off, making sure she would clear all the temple as she fell. There were screams now from below and a terrified shout from above as she let herself freefall for a second, knowing the wire wasn’t long enough to swing her down from the top. When she judged she’d have enough she sent the wire whipping out at a roof strut and swung herself down, doing a spin in mid-air for added flair before she landed.

“All the screaming makes me really glad I couldn’t see what just happened.” Her mother said flatly as Lin landed in front of her with a thud.

“Oh. She just took about ten years off of everybody’s lives, that’s all!” Katara grabbed Lin by the shoulders and shook her.

Lin stood defiant against Katara’s admonishment. She’d been successful, not even a scrape. She was good, didn’t Katara realise that?

“That was amazing!!!” Bumi elbowed his way through the crowd and picked her up in a bear hug. “She just threw herself off the top of the temple and then metalbent her way to the ground.” He explained to Toph as Lin fought her way out of his hug.

“Throwing yourself off of buildings again? I thought you’d learnt that lesson long ago.” Her mother frowned.

“I didn’t throw myself off!” Lin protested.

“She did.” Bumi cut in.

“I rappelled down! I was perfectly safe.”

“Lin.” Aang had landed now and was stood beside her mother. “Why would you ever think that was safe?” and his gently worried and disappointed voice was worse than any other. Lin’s heart dropped faster than she had.

“I’ve been practicing.” She muttered, dropping her gaze.

“Well that’s true at least. I got 47 police reports testifying to that.” her mother snorted.

“Police reports?” Poppy asked, sounding shocked.

“47?!” Katara exclaimed.

“She stole some metal and made this harness thing, spent her afternoons swinging about the rooftops of Republic City.”

Lin felt her stomach fill with acid and her heart with wounded pride. It didn’t sound that great when described like that. There was nothing of the inventiveness, the skill it required, the thrill that it gave her; the way, for a moment, she felt free from…whatever it was that always seemed to weigh her down.

“Interesting kid.” She heard someone whisper. It incensed her and she ran, away from the voices calling her name, all the way down to the pier. She bent the wire back into a hunk of metal and threw it into the sea. It landed with a small thunk and then disappeared. She missed it the moment it sank. She sat down on the small pier and stared into the water. She wasn’t sure who she’d expected to come after, if anyone, but her grandmother certainly wasn’t it. And she certainly wasn’t expecting Poppy Beifong to sit down quietly beside her.

“Your mother said to let you go but I guess after spending 12 years chasing after her when she “got lost”, running after people is a habit.” Poppy sighed when there was no reply from Lin. “You’re a very talented girl as well it seems and just as adventurous.” Praise didn’t get a response either. But Poppy had one more weapon in her arsenal. “And with just as big a taste for dangerous activities.” She smiled at the twitch of Lin’s head. “Your mother? Her taste as a child was more for running away and competing in earth bending fighting tournaments.”

Lin nearly fell off the pier. “What?!” she stared incredulously.

“Oh yes!” Poppy laughed at Lin’s response and also in relief that she’d gotten through to the angry young girl. “She told us all about it. Eventually. The Blind Bandit. That was her name. She’d compete against these huge men three times her size and beat every single one.”

Lin’s jaw hung open.

Time to play all the cards. “I’m surprised she ended up as a police chief, quite frankly. The amount of laws she’s broken.”

“She’s broken laws?” Lin’s voice dropped to whisper.

“Oh yeah.” Somehow Sokka had managed to sneak up on them and plopped down the other side of Lin. “When we were travelling with Aang? She earned us biiiggg money by scamming all these scam artists. It was a regular racket. I bought Hawky with the proceeds. And now look at us. I’m on the council of Republic City and she’s Chief of Police. You’d never guess it.”

“Scams?”

“Yup. Ended up with a bounty of 10000 on her head. They called her the Runaway.”

“Appropriate.” Poppy rolled her eyes.

“Cos every time she successfully scammed someone? She ran away!” Sokka laughed.

Lin switched between staring at Poppy and staring at Sokka.

“What we’re trying to say is, it doesn’t surprise us that her daughter is also a risk-taker.” Poppy said gently.

Lin sighed. “It’s not a risk if you know you can do it.”

Poppy didn’t have a reply to that so they sat there together on the small pier in silence, Sokka humming occasionally to himself. 

“Most of the other guests have left now.” Izumi said as she walked onto the pier to join them. “And your mother wants to leave.”

“And my husband will be wanting to return as well.” Poppy stood up with a little difficulty.

“Allow me to accompany you back, Lady Poppy!” Sokka held out an arm in a grandiose gesture.

“Thank you, Sir Sokka.” Poppy laughed and took it.

Lin fell in beside Izumi.

“When I said I wouldn’t mind a further demonstration of your talents, that wasn’t precisely what I had in mind. But it was a very good show. My father and Aang said you like flying. You should ask them to show you how to fly an airship.” Lin’s face lit up. “When you’re older.” Izumi hastily tacked on.

“There are AIR SHIPS??”

“Yup! I designed those, by the way. Sort of. I improved the design, definitely.” Sokka called back.

“Well it’s something to think about for the future.” Izumi said. “I think for the time being you are going to be quite literally grounded.”


	14. Earthquake

Izumi’s prediction turned out to be correct. The moment Lin returned, Toph held out her hand and Lin had to explain that she’d already thrown it away, guilt creeping into her as she realised it’d been her mother’s metal. Katara’s remonstrations about pulling a stunt like that in front of guests at a celebration sent a sharp arrow of shame to compound the guilt, despite Aang reminding everyone that no-one had been hurt.

“Probably best to stay away from Air Temple Island for the time being. And quit with the bending stunts while you’re at it.” was all Toph said to her when they got home.

Lin nodded. She felt the shame she’d brought on her mother and Aang, in front of all those people, leaders from around the world. But even that didn’t sting as much as the banishment from Air Temple Island and nothing was as bad as the ban on her bending “stunts”.

Every time Lin went to practice her bending, she struggled to come up with something that wouldn’t be considered a “stunt”. She went through the motions of the basic stances but there was no energy behind them, and she realised she wasn’t bending anything at all. The pull of the earth which she always felt now just seemed to be pulling her down. Her steps felt heavy as she walked to school, even as her body felt permanently hot from a fiery mix of shame and fury. She wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d suddenly been able to fire bend.

She tried to keep up teaching Suyin, but her sister pestered her for more demonstrations, and no amount of explaining from Lin would shut her up.

“You’ve been bending with Su?” Her mother overheard them one evening and seemed surprised. “What has Lin been teaching you then?” she picked Su up from Lin’s lap.

“Nothing.” It really hadn’t been that much. The stances she’d copied from her mother. Su wasn’t yet able to metal bend.

“Hmm. I think I’d best take over anyway. Don’t want you getting any ideas from your sister.” Toph laughed but Lin was stung.

She got up and was about to retreat to her bedroom when her mother grabbed her arm.

“You need to practice too.”

Lin gritted her teeth but went to stand next to her sister. She let herself feel some satisfaction that Su was doing well. At least she hadn’t messed that up. But her own movements were off. She didn’t feel like a rock anymore, she felt molten, overbalancing easily when her mother shifted the earth randomly beneath her feet.

“C’mon Lin. Even Su’s doing better at this than you.” Toph crouched down by her eldest daughter as she sprawled on the floor.

“I don’t want to bend anymore!” Lin snapped as her mother hauled her upright. Her heart felt weird, hammering away in her chest. She had to clench her fists to stop her hands from shaking.

“Ohhhh. You mean, you don’t want to bend unless it’s swinging from the rooftops, is that it?” Toph scoffed. “Well this stuff is important too. So come on.”

Lin jerked her arm out of her mother’s hand and stamped her foot. It was instinctive. A childish gesture of defiance. And the first bending move her mother had ever really taught her. _“Now stamp.”_ And Lin went rigid with terror as her feet read what the stamp told her. The shockwave rippled out and set the earth dancing beneath them. Su was screaming, her mother was the one sprawled on the floor now and Lin didn’t dare move, didn’t dare take a step to help them in case it happened again.

“I can’t see!” the fact that her mother sounded scared was equally as terrifying as the earthquake. The light flickered, there were more screams now, from further away. “Su!” Lin watched her sister crawl over and grab hold of her mother, who was holding her arms out. “Lin!”

The earthquake was over. Sirens were beginning to blare, and people were shouting. And Lin started shaking instead of the ground.

“I’m sorry!” She gasped out.

“Be sorry later kid.” Toph cut across her apologies. “Come on.”

She still couldn’t move. Couldn’t risk it.

“Come on! I need to go and deal with this.” Toph waited a second. “Lin!”

Lin shook her head. “I can’t!” she whispered.

Toph stood still for a moment, then shifted Su to her front, holding her cradled in one arm and crouched down with her back towards Lin.

“Come on, Lin-pet sloth.” She tapped her shoulder and Lin immediately threw her arms around her mother’s neck, clinging awkwardly as her mother stood up until she could throw her legs around Toph’s waist. “There. Now you can’t do anything else.”

It was a relief to be told that even as the ‘else’ added to the guilt. She slid off her mother’s back onto the sofa, making sure her feet dangled. Su was still all snotty and crying when Toph put her down next to Lin so she could put the kettle on, but Lin didn’t care and hugged her sister tightly to her, wiping her face and whispering apologies until the words blurred together and they lost meaning.

There was a knock at the door as Toph was pouring the tea and Lin was surprised when her mother came back with Kya behind her. The sight of her friend made Lin sit up. Tried to get a grip.

“I came over with mom. She went straight to the hospital. She told me to check on you guys and see if you can come in. Dad’s at the council hall, trying to get a message together, reassure people. That kinda thing. Bumi’s coming over on the ferry with some others in case they’re needed. People are scared, I think. It seemed pretty intense.”

 _People are scared. Why was it she always made people scared…_ “I didn’t…I di…I didn’t…mean to…” the words jerked out of Lin along with her breath. 

“Calm down, kid. The city’s still standing. Mostly. It was built well enough to take a little earthbender strop.”

 _Mostly._ Lin felt herself go cold, could feel herself shaking again.

“It was Lin?” Kya stared at her. She frowned and strode over, swinging Lin’s legs up onto the sofa. “Lie down.” She cut off Lin’s attempt at explaining that that wasn’t necessary, that she wouldn’t cause another one. “Close your eyes.”

Lin closed them but they shot open again when she felt shockingly cold water suddenly enveloping her ears, swirling underneath her head. “Close ‘em! Remember?”

The water sloshed gently as Kya bent it and she could feel Kya’s hand underneath her head, supporting it. It took Lin instantly back to her first floating lesson. And in order to float you had to …relax. Her breathing evened out and she felt herself go limp.

“Hey!” Kya took the water away and tugged at her hair. “Don’t fall asleep.”

It was tempting to disobey that order, but Kya was already pulling her back upright.

“Here.” Toph shoved a cup of tea into Lin’s hands. It was hot, but cool enough to drink and almost sickly sweet. “Think you lot can stay out of trouble if I leave you here?” she was gulping her own tea down quickly.

Kya shared a look with Lin and grinned. “Sure.”

“Great!” Toph put her cup down on the table and hurried out the door.

Kya sat down on the other side of Lin. “You really can put on a show, can’t you. I’d say that one could’ve…brought the house down.”

Lin stared at her and then snorted with laughter. It was such a bad joke, but it made her feel better. The laughter turned into a yawn.

“C’mon! Grab your blankets and stuff. Let’s make a huge bed here. We’ll make a pillow fort.” Kya shoved Lin off the sofa suddenly.

Lin nodded and was halfway to her bedroom before she realised she was walking. She stumbled as she froze but nothing had happened. Kya and Su were already pulling the cushions off the sofa and lying them on the floor so she walked as softly as she could to get pillows and blankets.

“Reckon you could bend us some supports? I don’t think this is gonna stay up otherwise.” Kya was fighting with the cushions.

The idea set Lin’s heart pounding. “I…can’t.”

“Hmmm. I guess you don’t have any metal anymore.” Kya frowned in concentration.

That wasn’t the point. There was plenty of metal. But Lin couldn’t face the thought of it. Luckily, the extra pillows and a blanket were enough to built a fairly decent fort, particularly when they raided Suyin’s bed for materials too. Suyin watched in awe as Kya and Lin constructed it and was the first to curl up in the middle and fall asleep. Kya joined her soon after, sprawling across half the sofa cushions.

Lin stood outside the fort. She needed to check something first.

“Where’re you going?” Kya got up as stealthily as she could so as to not wake Su.

“I need to see.” Lin hissed back, creeping up to the door.

Kya nodded and came to join her as she opened it. There were still sirens, a few shouts but it seemed…calm. As calm as usual, at any rate.

“See? Still standing.” Kya nudged Lin in the arm. She closed the door and Lin went back to the fort, crawling inside and collapsing forward onto the cushions. She was asleep before she could even pull a blanket over herself.

_Toph came home in the small hours of the morning, having spent the night helping to organise crews and patrols, in case any citizens took it into their heads to start looting. There hadn’t been that much structural damage to buildings; mainly it was water pipes that had buckled from the force that Lin had sent out. Waterbenders were already handling it. Aang and the council members had sent out an address and the healers at the hospital were dealing with any injuries that occurred. She walked through the door and frowned as she sensed the fuzzy building with its three sleeping occupants. She shrugged, taking off her armour and crawled inside to join them, curling up next to Lin. Figuring out how to prevent another earthquake could wait until tomorrow. For now, the blanket fort would protect them all._


	15. Dreams of Flight

Lin woke up to find her mother snoring gently beside her and the fort empty beside the two of them. She could hear Suyin laughing and Bumi’s voice and Tenzin hushing them both.

“Oh hush yourself Tenzin. They’ve been asleep most of the day. Gotta wake up sometime.” That was Kya, whose eyerolls were somehow always audible in her voice.

Lin stayed where she was. There would be questions and she wasn’t sure if she could face them yet. She looked at her mother and saw she was awake.

“Hey Chief.”

“Hey Chief.”

Lin felt something within her melt with relief and she blew out a big breath.

“You want breakfast?”

“It’s more like dinner at this point.” Kya whipped the blanket off the top of the fort, having heard their voices.

“You kids get this lot cleared up and I’ll make something.” Toph stretched herself upright and stumbled until her feet hit the floor.

“I can help!” Bumi offered.

“You can cook?” even his own siblings looked slightly startled at that.

“While you were all busy bending, I was learning life skills.” Bumi said and started getting pans out.

Toph grinned. “Katara was always a good cook.” She stood back to let him get to work.

“Can I help?” Lin asked, having already made her bed back up.

Bumi nodded and got her a stool and handed her a knife. “Start chopping.”

Lin decided she liked cooking. There was great satisfaction to be gained from watching a meal come together and then watching people come together to eat it and enjoy it. They were all sat round the table when Toph got up and walked to the door just in time to open it for Katara and Aang. Lin stared down into her nearly empty bowl, feeling suddenly too full to finish, as she heard murmurs from the hall.

“Home time for you lot.” Toph walked back in, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.

There was a brief bustle of chairs being pushed back and yelled goodbyes.

“And bedtime for you two I think. Seeing as the schools are still standing, you have to go back in tomorrow.”

School. That seemed weird. A normality that belonged to someone else. Lin drifted through the routine of getting washed, dressing, collecting her rucksack, dropping Su off at nursery and walking to school in a daze. There were cracks in the pavements, she noticed and crews of workers fixing things down in holes. She was glad of her boots, although even they seemed like flimsy protection.

There was talk of the earthquake at school, but no-one mentioned Lin. No-one really spoke to her apart from teachers asking questions but that _was_ normal, and a relief. She let herself continue on auto-pilot, going to the police headquarters, sitting in the corner of Toph’s office, her mind going blank. Walking home. Dinner. A bath. Homework. Bed. She was in bed three hours before her bedtime. She lay there and fell asleep.

She dreamt of flying. And falling. And the earth cracking and rumbling and reaching out to swallow her. She woke up soaked in sweat and didn’t dare go back to sleep again.

It went on for a week before her mother came to find her after she’d gone to her room.

“You’re not sleeping, kid. I can tell by your heartbeat.”

“It’s not bedtime yet.”

“You’re not sleeping even when it is. And if it’s not bedtime, what are you doing lying on your bed?”

“I’ve…done everything I need to do.”

“More to life than that. And the not sleeping? Nightmares?”

“They start off as dreams.” Lin sighed.

“About flying?” Toph guessed. Lin didn’t bother lying. “Come on then.” She scooped Lin off the bed and carried her protesting daughter into the living room, depositing her back on her feet just as Lin was demanding to be put down. “She’s all yours.”

Lin spun round and saw Aang standing in the hallway. She stared at him baffled.

“I seem to recall promising a ride on Appa that never happened.” He smiled at her.

“What’s going on?” Lin turned back to her mother.

“Happy flying kid.” Toph waved her away.

Shrugging away her confusion to make space for excitement at the prospect of flying, Lin followed Aang out the door.

“Hold out your hand.” He said, stopping her before she climbed up Appa.

She held out her hand and he dropped the ballbearings into them. She stared at them for a long moment then pocketed them. Aang looked strangely disappointed but hopped up onto Appa’s neck as Lin scrambled her way up to the saddle.

The city looked beautiful from above, a constellation laid out below her. She looked up as they flew further out over the bay and saw the constellations above and laid back to see them better. She was flying again and the wind blowing her hair into her face was relaxing rather than irritating. Almost unthinkingly she retrieved the ball bearings and spun them above her, only realising then how much she’d missed bending, even after such a short time. She smiled to herself as she bent the metal into an air bison and made it fly along with them.

She thought Aang would take her to Air Temple Island or even just a quick trip but instead they ended up landing by the big town hall, where the council held meetings and court.

“What are we doing here?” Lin looked about the lit up hall a little nervously. This was where they held trials. Was this about the earthquake?

A door opened and she saw Sokka come in, with something thrown over his shoulder.

“We are…” Aang looked at Sokka for support.

“Helping you.” Sokka grinned and swung down the whatever it was on his shoulder and held it out to her.

It looked like a jacket with two flat boxes on the shoulders. They were attached to tubes that went all the way down the arms.

“Toph gave me your design. It wasn’t bad! For an amateur. But I took the liberty of improving it a bit. Better materials. That kind of thing.”

It felt heavy as Sokka draped it over her shoulders and guided her arms down the sleeves. When he did all the buckles up tight, it fitted her like a glove.

“I figured the harness you had would cause all sorts of bruising eventually. Around the shoulders, the ribs. Chafing is not something to be taken lightly.” He nodded wisely. “It can be adjusted, should allow you some growing room before I have to make another one. The wires follow the tubes on the arms, these here-” he pointed them out “-which should give you greater dexterity over the wires, rather than just have them flailing around your shoulders. And of course the straps here-” he pulled the straps at the end of the sleeves and wrapped them around her hands “-should stop the metal digging into your hands if you need to grab the wires in a hurry. There!” he gave her a double thumbs up.

She stood there, frozen, staring at him. Then she whirled round and glowered at Aang. He looked strangely sheepish.

“What is this?” she demanded.

“A gift.” he said simply.

“Does Mom know?”

“As Sokka said, she was the one who showed him your invention.”

“Yeah, she was worried you would get yourself killed without the proper gear and she figured with my technical genius-” Sokka jerked a thumb at his chest “-I could help.”

Lin looked at her new jacket, felt the metal in it.

“Why?”

“You’re not a bad kid, Lin. We realised it had to be really important to you if you kept on trying.”

“I told Toph what you said. About it not being a risk if you knew you could do it. She doesn’t get why this is important to you, but she did understand that.” Sokka interrupted. “She could understand that frustration reeeaally easily.”

“So this is a chance, as well as a gift.” Aang continued. “To show us what you can reeeaally do with this.”

Lin stared at her feet in thought for a moment, then held her arms out in front of her, feeling the metal and bending it down the tubes. Without a word of warning she ran. The balconies surrounding the hall provided the perfect thing and she sent a wire out and leapt, retracting as she did so and soaring above the seats. Midair, she sent out a wire to the opposite balcony and swung right above Aang and Sokka’s heads, making them dive into the rows of seats. She flipped herself onto the balcony railing then sent out a wire to hit the ceiling and hauled upwards, propelling herself high into the air. She let go and felt herself fall, untethered and free for a second, a shout of joy escaping her before she twisted midair and sent out both wires at once to wrap around the top of two pillars, letting them out so that she swung between them, running along the centre aisle towards the door before pushing off from the ground once more. She brought one wire in, retracted the other one to bring her to the pillar, hanging off it for a second before sending the other wire out to the podium. She let go of the pillar and used the wire to whip her through the air, arcing over the entire hall before flipping over and landing on top of the council table, the wires disappearing quickly back into their tubes.

The exertion was nothing, but the thrill left her breathless as she glared joyful defiance at Aang and Sokka.

Aang looked ready to faint but Sokka was just stood there with his mouth open. “Wooowww. You’re amazing!!” he clapped.

“Yes Lin.” Aang said weakly. “You are. But I think you should probably be getting home for now.”

She stood there awkwardly. “Thanks.”

Sokka shared a glance with Aang who laughed. “She’s very grateful.” He translated to Sokka.

“Well, maybe if I see you practice with it some more, I’ll be able to come up with an even better design for you.” Sokka offered.

Lin nodded. “Okay.”

“She’s looking forward to working with you.” Aang stage-whispered to Sokka.

Lin rolled her eyes, but a small smile appeared despite herself.

“She’s smiling which means you’ve just made her day and possibly her entire life. Okay!” Aang held up his hands as Lin folded her arms and glowered. But he smiled. “That looks more like the Lin I know. Ready to fly home?”

“Okay.”

She sprawled in Appa’s saddle, balling her hands into fists and pressed them against her cheeks just in case the grin split her face in half. They rose above the city, high in the air and she stood up and crowed, over and over again, Appa replying with a bellow. Aang waited until she’d calmed down, collapsed backwards with exhaustion, before taking her home. She fell asleep under the stars and Aang’s cloak, finally feeling at peace again.

And when she woke the next morning in her bed, the jacket hung on the bed post proved it wasn’t a dream.


	16. Good Vibrations

“Happy?” her mother asked when Lin went into the kitchen the next morning.

“Yep.” Energy was rippling through her again, but it didn’t feel dangerous this time. There was no anger, no nothing. Just pure bubbling zings of joy. She could fly again. They were going to let her. She could _fly again_.

“That’s something at least.” Her mother sighed, holding out breakfast for her.

Lin frowned. “Are you?”

Toph put the breakfast down on the table and picked Lin up, holding her cradled in her arms. “You’re still so small.”

Lin wriggled in protest. “Hey! Lemme down.”

“Oh! So you only like being up in the air by yourself is that it?” Toph grabbed Lin round the waist and spun on the spot.

Lin flung her arms and legs out, laughing at the unexpected delight. She found herself in Toph’s arms, being squeezed too tight but she didn’t complain.

“Alright. Eat up.” Her mother deposited her back on the ground. “I’ll be working late tonight. So if you wanna go to Air Temple Island with Su, that’s fine.”

“What about Katara?”

“Don’t get injured and she won’t get mad.” Toph went to chivy Suyin out of bed. “That’s the deal.”

Lin wasn’t sure she was ready to go back to Air Temple Island and instead decided to play with Su. She’d learnt seismic sense young, it was time Su did, Lin decided. “Okay. So I’m gonna blindfold you. And you have to find me.” She explained. “Okay?”

Su nodded, waiting patiently as Lin put the blindfold on. Then she reached out and grabbed Lin immediately. “Found you!”

“Noo!” Lin laughed. “You have to wait first. And you have to find me by stamping and then listening to what the stamp tells you.”

“Will it make everywhere shake?” Suyin asked nervously.

Lin gulped. “No. That was…a mistake. No. You just stamp. Like this.” Despite her reassurances her throat felt slightly dry as she stamped. But all that she felt was the normal vibrations and feedback.

“I felt it. A small shake!”

“Yeah! Stamping makes a noise, which is a small shake called a vibration and then that noise hits things and bounces back. And if you can learn to feel the changes in the little vibrations, they can tell you where things are.”

“Hide! I’ll find you.”

“Okay!” Lin grinned to herself and walked away softly, before attaching one of her wires to the ceiling and hauling herself up. She watched, trying not to laugh as Suyin stomped and then ran around and inevitably into things.

“Lin??” Suyin hadn’t cried all the time she’d hit walls and doorframes and the table, but she started to now. “Are you gone?”

Lin quickly dropped down, landing with a small thud and then was knocked off her feet as Suyin ran at her. “Found you!!”

“Ahhh!” Lin mocked a groan of defeat. “You’re just too good at this!”

“Yup!” Suyin took her blindfold off and sat down heavily on Lin. 

“Want to try again?” Lin gently shoved her off.

“I found you.” Su shrugged.

“It’s good to practice. Like you do with Mom.”

“Can you teach me to fly like you?”

Lin froze as she contemplated all possible outcomes of doing so without approval. None of them were good. But she didn’t want to disappoint her sister either and she was well aware of what that yearning was like. “You’re a little young.” She hedged.

“Can I fly with you then?”

Lin’s imagined outcomes of that scenario also ended badly. “Maybe you can ask Aang to take you up on his glider.”

“I want to fly with you!”

“Seismic sense first.” _And then if you still want to, I’m going to have to find a way to convince them that it’ll be safe. And the trouble is I can’t convince myself_. Lin added silently.

But Su accepted her offer and wrapped the blindfold untidily around her eyes. Lin secured it better and then went and hid in a place that she could acutally be found from.

They practiced for a week and although Su got better at learning the layout of the apartment without seeing it, she still couldn’t find Lin. Sometimes Lin got bored and would practice with her wires. She installed small metal handles all around the ceiling so she could move without having to touch the floor. It was a good way to get used to moving around; prolonged swinging made her shoulders ache. Sometimes she would dangle from a handle using her arms and try and pull herself up, other times she would dangle from a wire.

Which was what she was doing when her mother came home early one day and walked into her.

“Do I want to know?” Toph asked as Lin dropped to the floor.

“I’m teaching Su to seismic sense.” Lin replied. “You’re home early.”

“Kid if I couldn’t tell where you were, how the hell was she going to?” Her mother pointed out, moving past her. “I’m going for a bath. Look after Su. Properly.”

Su stopped to let her mother pass and then ran up to Lin. “Found you!”

“Did you find me properly? Or just through voices?”

“Voices.” Su admitted.

“Hmmm. Enough practice for today.” She sat on the sofa with Su in her lap and took out her ballbearings, spinning them between her hands and then around Su’s head. Su tried to grab them, giggling. “I bet you could metal bend if you wanted to. You can earth bend already.”

“And then I could swing?”

Lin sighed. It looked as if her sister was as adamant about it as she was. “Yes.” It would probably be best, Lin contemplated, if she left the metal bending for now.

It was past dinner time before Toph re-appeared. She ordered food in, which was rare and sat on the sofa next to Lin was they waited for it to arrive. Lin took advantage of the moment to curl in at Toph’s side, Su sprawled against her’s. 

“Aang told me you haven’t been back to the Island yet.” Her mother toyed with Lin’s hair.

Lin knew she must’ve got her hair from her father, because it curled and Toph’s was straight. “I guess I’ve been busy teaching Su.” She shrugged.

“You don’t have to be scared of Katara you know.”

Lin sighed dramatically. “I’m not scared of Katara.”

“So why aren’t you going? S’not like you can swing around the apartment.”

“She can.” Suyin piped up.

“Shh!!” Lin hushed her sister hurriedly but Toph was already groaning. “I put handles up!” she protested. “So I’m not making holes in the ceiling with my wires.”

“What about the holes for the handles to go through?”

Lin was spared having to answer by the doorbell ringing and food arriving.

They ate in silence and then Toph surprised Lin by falling asleep as she sat sprawled on the sofa before they’d even cleaned up.

“C’mon Su!” Lin whispered as she collected all the pots up and put them in the bin.

“Are we gonna make another blanket fort?” Su asked as Lin got a blanket from her mother’s bed.

“No. You should sleep in your own bed.” Lin gently laid it over Toph.

“Why? Mom isn’t.” Su folded her arms.

Lin hastily weighed up the likelihood of her winning what would undoubtedly be a loud argument with Su that would wake Toph up. “Go grab your own blanket then!” she hissed, heading into her room to do the same. She made Su lie nearest the back of the sofa and then turned the lights off before lying down near the edge, to ensure Su wouldn’t roll off in her sleep.

“Mom’s making vibrations.” Su giggled quietly as Toph began to snore.

“Yeah and so should you be! So go to sleep.” Lin tugged Su’s blanket tight around her. She waited until Su started snoring as well before allowing herself to go to sleep too.


	17. Return to Air Temple Island

Not wanting to unduly worry Aang, Lin decided to go visit Air Temple Island the next day. It wasn’t a school day which meant she could spend all day there. Which meant lots of time for swinging.

She jumped off the ferry and ran up to the temple and straight into Katara who had come to meet her.

“Hello Lin.”

Lin nodded in reply, suddenly unable to speak, aware that she had her bending jacket on and aware that she hadn’t seen Katara since the anniversary celebration. She wasn’t afraid of Katara, Lin told herself as she darted past the waterbender, it was just awkward. That was all. She ran up the steps, spotted the window to Tenzin’s room and grinned. Well, time to prove herself. She shot out a wire to wrap around the roof post just above it and bent herself up before swinging to land on the windowsill. Her friend was sat at his desk reading and hadn’t noticed her.

“Hey.”

Tenzin looked round and yelped. “LIN! Don’t _do_ that. What are you doing there anyway?”

“Coming to visit you.”

“And you didn’t use the door because?”

“More fun this way. I’m going bending. Want to come?”

“Are you going to be safe?”

“Of course.” Lin grinned and to prove it, hopped down off the windowsill and walked across the room to use the door.

“Fine.” Tenzin sighed and followed her out.

“Where’s Bumi and Kya?”

“Bumi’s visiting Lord Zuko. He wants to join the army apparently.”

“The army?”

“Mm. I don’t think Dad’s very happy about it, but Mom said it’s not like he’s an airbender.”

“And Kya?”

“Kya is around somewhere.” Tenzin didn’t sound too unhappy to have his sister absent.

Lin shrugged and used her wires to propel herself along, occasionally spinning a cartwheel or rolling in midair.

Tenzin gave a rare grin. “You should’ve been an airbender. It’s clearly your natural habitat.”

Lin returned the grin. “Don’t need to be an airbender. I have these.” She made her wires dance above her hands.

Tenzin made a small ball of air and made it dance around him before expanding it and sitting on it. Lin’s brow furrowed in thought and then made a small ball of spinning earth and hopped onto it. Tenzin gaped.

“I’ll race you.” She challenged. “Earth vs Air.”

Lin didn’t think Tenzin would accept; unlike his brother and sister, he eschewed competition.

“We can practice together.” He nodded and set off slowly, allowing her to catch up.

She gave up on the ball quickly as it wasn’t efficient, bending herself long on a strip of earth instead but even that became dull quickly and she bent a wire up and swung into a tree, scampering along the branches and swinging to the next one, easily leaving Tenzin behind. She reached a sheer cliff but that posed no problems after tall buildings and she rappelled down to a small beach. She dug her toes into the sand, wondering whether she could learn to bend it, irritated by the way it shifted beneath her. She walked towards the sea, hoping to find firmer sand and instead found a small pile of clothes. _Kya._ She thought to herself and walked to surf line, scanning the water, expecting to see Kya swimming somewhere. What she was not expecting, and afterwards realised she probably should’ve been, was a huge wave to rear up and crash over her, drenching her head to foot.

“Hey Lin.” Kya waved from the shallows, grinning at her. “How did you get here?”

“I swung down.” Lin pushed her sopping hair back from her face. She hadn’t seen Kya since the earthquake and wondered if the waterbender was going to say anything.

“The cliff??” Kya stared at the steep wall of rock.

Lin shot out a wire and retracted it until she was crouched on a tiny ledge halfway up, hanging on with one hand.

“I see you’ve been practicing.” Kya shouted up at her.

Lin shot out both wires to attach to the cliffs at the edge of the small beach and pushed off, swinging down.

Kya dived back under water as Lin swung towards her at some speed, flipping in midair and bombing into the ocean, knocking half the breath out of herself.

“Very clever.” Kya said when they’d both resurfaced. Lin shot out a wire to haul herself back to the beach.

Lin shrugged. “What is this place?” she asked as Kya followed her by waterbending.

“It’s my getaway. If Bumi’s being too annoying or Tenzin too stuck up, I come here. I can get here by waterbending but it’s impossible to get here by boat because of the rocks. You’re my first visitor.”

Lin nodded sympathetically. She could understand wanting to get away. There just wasn’t really any place to do it in a flat.

“At the moment, home’s all tense.”

“Why?” Lin sat down on the sand and let Kya bend the water off of her. It hadn’t seemed that tense to her.

“Dad’s still all wound up about this ex-blood bender that escaped.”

“A blood bender?”

“Sure. Mom explained it to me. There’s water in people. Inside your blood. So if you can water bend then you should be able to blood bend. Like you and metal, you sense the earth inside the metal right? Anyway, this guy was a bad guy and blood bent everyone on the council and the police to escape.”

“Even my mom?” it seemed impossible to Lin that someone could get one over on her mother.

“Yup. Everyone.”

“Can you blood bend?”

“No. But I think mom can. Anyway! Dad caught him and took away his bending. But he’s escaped somehow. Some of his ex-gang bust him out or something. They’ve never been able to track him down.”

Lin thought back to meetings that had made Toph distracted and more recently Toph coming home and falling asleep on the sofa. Fear sparked in her heart but was quickly overtaken by a flame of anger. She sat there in silence, digging her hands into the sand and scowling, imagining the way she’d deal with this ex-bender if she ever found him. Her reverie was interrupted by the sound of Tenzin calling her name.

“If Tenzin finds out about this place, I’ll rusting all your metal!” Kya turned on her and Lin swiftly rappelled back up the cliff and went to head him off.


	18. Fly With Me

With the success of teaching Su seismic sense, the pestering returned about metal bending and in particular, ‘flying’. Su was 5 now, still younger than Lin when Lin learnt, but then Lin had never considered it before then, having no older sister to teach her and no older sister to be in awe of as she constantly swung about the flat and the training room at police headquarters.

Lin’s argument was that if she didn’t do something, Su was likely to try herself, and more than likely get hurt. Her mother, she knew, would merely view this as the way you learnt. But Lin didn’t want Su getting hurt. She knew the trouble and hassle it caused and wanted to spare her sister that pain. So she came up with a plan.

And so she found herself on Air Temple Island hunting down Katara, as what she considered the most sensible and stern adult she knew.

Aang seemed surprised when she asked him where Katara was.

“She’s in the healing room, teaching Kya. Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.

“No.” Lin shook her head. If her idea was going to receive the resounding “No.” she was expecting, she didn’t want Aang to try and intervene. Because half of Lin was incredibly nervous about taking Su ‘flying’ with her and was quite ready to accept Katara’s ‘No’ as a useful excuse to give to Su.

Lin stood awkwardly in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt the session and also fascinated by the fluid moves of waterbending. She sat down just inside the doorway and watched.

“It seems we have an audience.” Katara spotted her first.

Kya looked round, unperturbed. “Oh hey Lin.” She grinned. “What do you need me to heal this time?”

“I don’t.” Lin rolled her eyes as she got up. “I need to speak to Katara.”

Katara sighed. “It’s that bad that Kya can’t heal it?”

“I don’t need healing!” Lin snapped.

Katara stared at Lin. “Is something wrong?”

“No.”

Katara shared a glance with her daughter, who shrugged. “I’m gonna go get a drink. You want one Lin?” Kya offered as she walked past.

“No.” Lin scowled. “Thanks.” She added on at the last minute, staring at the ground, missing Kya’s smile at her awkwardness. Her nerves were getting to her it seemed. It’d been months with no injuries, so the agreement was holding but she was still incredibly cautious around Katara.

“Hi.” Lin looked up and blinked. Katara was smiling at her. “It’s rare you come to see me when you don’t need healing.” She waited for a moment. “So. You needed me for something?”

“Su wants to go ‘flying’ too.” Lin blurted out. “And she wants to metal bend but if I teach her metalbending she might try and go ‘flying’ by herself and she might get hurt. A lot. And if Mom teaches her metalbending then she might try and go ‘flying’ but Mom doesn’t know anything about it so she won’t be able to teach her but she’ll also just say it’s fine and that mistakes are how you learn but mistakes hurt. So I was thinking I’d take her up with me. Cos I’ve been doing it for ages now and Sokka helped me with the equipment and he’s even talked about a safety parachute except I don’t need one but I still don’t think it’s a good idea cos I don’t know how to keep her safe but I don’t want to not do it either and…” Lin had to pause for breath. “And you’re the most responsible adult I know so I thought I’d ask you about it.”

Katara had been staring at Lin with a carefully blank expression for the entirety of her speech but she laughed at that. Which made Lin blink again because she didn’t think she’d ever heard Katara laugh before and she wasn’t entirely sure what was funny.

“I think it’s a good idea that you teach Su metalbending. But I agree she’s a little young to go swinging about by herself like you do.”

Lin sighed, half in relief but Katara was staring at the ceiling, tapping her chin in thought. “But she could go with you if…I wonder. Stay here a moment!” She patted Lin on the shoulder and strode off.

Lin stayed frozen on the spot, in shock that Katara was agreeing with her. Kya wandered back in after her mother left, sipping on a drink. She waved a hand in front of Lin’s eyes.

“Earth to Lin. Did we lose you in the clouds again?”

“Uh…”

“You might have to work with Sokka to adjust it slightly,” Katara came back in carrying the harness that Aang used to use to take Lin up, “but it would mean she couldn’t fall off. And I think you have enough skill by now to make sure you don’t crash. And enough sense not to leap-” Kya snorted in the background “-immediately into swinging from buildings.”

“Low level stuff.” Lin agreed as she took the harness, her heart pounding slightly because if _Katara_ was saying it was okay then it was okay but also that was a lot of responsibility to live up to.

Sokka took one look at the old harness and decided to design an entirely new one.

“Custom made to fit and with better materials that aren’t several years old.” He promised them, as Lin stood there whilst Su danced around her and tugged at her hand excitedly.

Standing there under the trees, with Su strapped to her back, Lin was reminded of her mother’s philosophy that protecting people wasn’t just about fighting. No, she agreed. There was not hurting them either.

“Ready?” Lin asked, more to herself than Su.

“Yep! Go! Go!” Su clung on tightly at Lin’s instruction.

“Here we go.” Lin took a deep breath and ran forward, shooting out a wire to swing from. The extra weight made her grunt with the effort of swinging them both, but it was drowned out by Su’s whoops of joy. She held her arms up trying to mimic her sister’s actions. “Argh! Su! Keep still!” Lin fought to regain control as Su’s wild motions swung them off balance. She dropped down to the grass once more. “You have to stay still. Otherwise I’ll lose control and we’ll crash.”

“Sorry.” Su flung her arms around Lin’s neck. “Again?”

Lin nodded. “If you want to hold your arms up, put them along mine. Then they’ll be in the same position.”

Su did so and Lin set off again, grateful for all the training and practice she’d done. She was having to use every bit of her skill to adjust for the additional weight on her shoulders and on the wires, but by now they were ‘flying’ properly. Su had fallen silent in awe.

“Ready?” Lin asked suddenly.

“For what?”

“Hold on tight!” Su clung to her as fiercely as a limpet sloth. Lin let the swing take them down, shot out both wires to the next branch and then flipped herself over so they both did a roll in midair. Su screamed but in the next breath was yelling for Lin to do it again. Lin swung on for a moment to build up momentum then spun round with her body parallel to the ground, before sending up another wire and flipping backwards this time but keeping her body straight, her hair falling down to brush against the grass, Su squeezing her tightly. She turned back the right way and then let them both down onto the ground.

“Enough. I’m tired.” She flopped forwards and lay there, releasing the straps of the harness. Her heart was pounding from both from the physical exertion and the mental stress of recalculating every move. Su stayed led on her back, hugging her.

“You’re amazing. The best big sister ever.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.” Lin snorted but she couldn’t stop a small sense of pride in Su’s words and wriggled round to return the hug. They walked back, Lin’s shoulders already stiff and sore but she grinned at Su running ahead of her and leaping in the air, swinging her arms about as if trying to bend wires too.

Lin hadn’t expected a single trip to satisfy her sister but she’d thought it would at least decrease the pestering. Instead Su begged her at every opportunity to take them up, whether it was round the apartment or the police headquarters training room. Lin wondered whether this was what she’d put Aang through with all her requests to be taken flying as a kid and made a note to apologise to him next time she saw him.

But eventually, as Lin suspected they would, Suyin’s demands for ‘flying’ morphed back into her original one. She wanted to be taught how to swing by herself. Which meant Lin teaching her to metalbend. She was a little hesitant, but Katara had thought it was a good idea, so Lin got her ball bearings out.

She sat Su down in front of her a little way away. She made a triangle of her legs and got Su to copy her, placing their feet together so they made a diamond. And then she used metal bending to roll the ball bearing across to Su.

“You know how you feel the earth? How there’s that tug you can always sense? Try feeling that in the metal. And then use that to move it back to me.”

Su concentrated hard. And then jerked her hand out.

When Lin turned up at Air Temple Island to get the resultant black eye healed and explained how she’d got it, Tenzin’s face was almost perfectly blank. And he didn’t say anything. At all. Not a word. But Lin had begun to learn to feel heartbeats through her feet and he didn’t have to. She was grateful all the same that he stayed silent because Kya laughed hard enough for the both of them as she healed Lin.


	19. Ain't It Prime To Be A-Sailing

It was the last summer holiday before Lin would move up to join Kya and Tenzin at the upper school and Suyin would start at lower school and the last holiday before Bumi would go off to join the United forces. Aang had taken Tenzin off to Ember Island, leaving a disgruntled Bumi and Kya behind.

“It’s not like I mind. When I’m older, I’m going to travel ALL the world, not just to some dusty old air temples.” Kya explained to the younger girl who was sprawled lazily in the bottom of the sailing dinghy, using her ‘flying’ jacket as a pillow.

“Me too.” Bumi was sat on the dock, splashing his feet in the water to try and keep cool. “That’s why I want to join the military. Just because I’m not an airbender doesn’t mean I don’t have the nomad spirit!” He hopped into the boat to help Kya step the mast and secure it. 

“In a boat?” Lin asked, opening an eye fully to watch Kya haul the sail up.

“Yep. But not one this small.” Kya brought the boom fully down and swung it out, swiftly securing the sheet.

“The military have HUGE ships. But they don’t have sails. I’ll miss that.” Bumi sighed. “I still remember Uncle Sokka taking me Ice Dodging with Mom.”

“Yeah. What Mark did you earn again?” Kya asked playfully.

“The Mark of the Unconventional.” Bumi grinned. “You’ll have to do it soon Kya. Can’t wait to find out what you get.”

Kya ignored him and nudged Lin with her foot as she stepped back over her to sit at the tiller. “Undo the painter lazybones.”

“Ice dodging?” Lin scrambled up to undo the rope that tied the boat to the dock and stowed it where Kya told her. She sat at the side of the boat, trailing her fingers in the water, idly wondering what it would be like to be able to waterbend as Bumi explained the rite of Passage.

“There’s not too much wind. Good for your first lesson.” Kya kept an eye on the small flag at the top of the mast as they sailed out and across the bay. “Ready to take the tiller Lin?”

Lin was proud of herself that she didn’t stumble as she made her way to the stern and sat down beside Kya, grasping the tiller firmly with both hands, not wanting to show any hesitancy in front of Kya and Bumi.

“You don’t have to grip it that hard.” Kya laughed at her and handed her the sheet.

“Yeah! You’re gonna do great Lin.”

Lin frowned in concentration. She could hear the water bubbling as the boat moved away from the island and into more open water, the sail filling with air. “What do I do next?”

“Nothing at the moment. I’ll tell you if the wind changes direction. Eventually you’ll learn to read the weather by yourself.”

“How?”

“By listening, to the sound of the water, the feel of the wind!” Bumi flung his arms wide dramatically. “The vibrations of the boat.”

“Like seeing with my feet?”

“Sort of. Mom told me there are huge animals that live in the water that use a sort of seismic sense. They use sound to see. But this is more about tension and feeling what the boat’s doing.” Kya tried to explain

Lin felt thoroughly baffled until Kya brought up her wires. “You can feel the tension in the wires right? You’ve learnt how to adjust your weight to be able to swing and get yourself to go where you want to go.”

“Same thing, just in a boat. And you have to control it all without bending.” Bumi added. “Now. Let out the main sheet and push the tiller round.” He joined Lin and showed her how to work the sheet. Kya ducked down as the boom swung over.

“There’s not really enough wind for us to go fast, is there.” Lin risked a glance backwards at the small but straight wake they were leaving behind.

“Well, we’re beating against it at the moment.” Bumi explained. “We might get some good speed going back to Air Temple Island.”

Kya snorted. “You know some people can just appreciate the fine art of sailing and aren’t thrill seekers who just want to go fast.” Lin took a breath to argue but Kya splashed water in her face. “Am I wrong?” Kya grinned at her.

“No.” Lin admitted. “That was refreshing. Do it again.” She held her breath with a grin as Kya doused her, as she’d expected.

“Do me! I’m dyin’ of heat here too!” Bumi waved a hand and nearly got knocked into the water by Kya’s jet of water.

It gave Lin an idea. “Can you waterbend to make us go faster?”

“I can. Mom taught me how the swamp benders do it to move their boats. But not with the sail up.” Kya shook her head and then groaned as she spotted Lin’s hopeful expression. “All right.” she gave in and took over, luffing the sail to bring them to a halt. “But you have to bring the sail down. Prove to me and Bumi how much you haven’t been paying attention.”

Lin nodded, accepting the challenge and, watching out the corner of her eye for their reactions, she let go the main sheet and put the boom up, before hauling on the halyard to bring the sail down. She struggled a little under the weight of the boom, yard and sail as she unhooked the strop and Bumi helped her tie them neatly up and lay them in the bottom of the boat.

“I’m impressed, considering you looked as if you were asleep the entire time I was showing you.” Kya moved to stand in front of the mast, bracing her feet against the bottom of the boat.

“I only had my eyes half closed.” Lin protested as she sat down at the tiller, her eyes sparkling.

“Ready?” Kya asked, shaking her head in reply to Lin’s enthusiastic nod. “I’m gonna go fast.” Kya warned and the boat shot away. The speed nearly shot Lin backwards off the boat and sent Bumi sprawling into the bottom.

“Sorry! Should’ve said hold on tight as well.” Kya didn’t sound the slightest bit apologetic.

Lin ignored her and focussed on keeping the tiller from moving around, enjoying the spray on her face. “We’re going so fast!!”

“I do have some talent at waterbending you know. Just because I don’t show it off like some people.”

“I don’t show off!”

“Lin, you could put on performances in a circus and get money.” Bumi laughed as he used the gunwale to pull himself up.

Lin flushed at the praise. An idea formed in her head and she looked at the boat and what was available to her. The painter. The anchor. The metal in her bending jacket.

“Bumi! Take the tiller.”

“Why? You’re doing fine.” Bumi said encouragingly.

“I’ve got an idea.”

“Do it Bumi. I wanna see this.” Kya shouted back over her shoulder.

Lin relinquished the tiller and sat down in the bottom of the boat. She put her ‘flying’ jacket on and then grabbed the small anchor, bending it as far as she could into a long thin length, adding some metal from her wires to lengthen it and add an arch. She bent her second wire and attached it to the traveller on the mast.

Kya slowed down to a stop in order to watch as Lin made a rough handle from the painter and the end of her metal bending wire and then walked to the stern with the narrow sheet of metal in her hand.

“If you lose the anchor, you’re going overboard to get it.”

Lin laughed, which startled Kya. “I’m going overboard anyway.”

She dove into the water and surfaced with a brief splutter, shaking her hair out of her eyes as she swam a little way from the boat. She fitted her foot under the arch and positioned the other one right behind it on the slim piece of metal. Flailing slightly to keep herself afloat she bent the wire attached to the mast towards her and grabbed hold of the handle with both hands.

Bumi and Kya stared at her. “Now what?”

“Waterbend the boat to go fast.”

Kya inspected the entire set up and saw what Lin meant to do. She let out a low whistle, but Lin’s face was determined, and Kya set off, slowly at first and checking back frequently to see whether Lin was okay. She got a nod and Kya upped the speed, risking a look back when Bumi whooped, to see a triumphant Lin, crouched low and whizzing over the water behind the boat on the narrow piece of metal.

“Who doesn’t show off??” Bumi yelled at her, laughing. “Best hang on tight!”

Lin secured her grip on the handle and then gestured to Bumi who told Kya to increase the speed, looking in awe at Lin from his spot at the tiller.

“Kya! Watch this!” Bumi called out after seeing Lin’s latest manoeuvre. Lin had gained enough momentum from swerving from side to side and, making sure Kya was watching this time as well, repeated the action of jerking herself into the air with metal bending, tucking her legs up close and spinning 360 before crashing back into the water. “WHOA!!” she struggled to maintain her balance and lost her grip on the handle, faceplanting the water but making sure to keep tight hold of the board as she struggled for breath.

Kya brought the boat round and Bumi grabbed Lin and hauled her over the side. Kya collapsed beside Lin, the two of them both gasping for breath.

“Reckon I could take that to the circus?” Lin asked Bumi between wheezing laughs of exhilaration.

“That was amazing!! Can I try next?” Bumi picked up the board and tried fitting it on his foot.

“I am NOT bending at that speed anymore today. That was exhausting.” Kya groaned, fling her arm over her eyes.

“Buuutttttt say tomorrow?” Bumi hinted as he hoisted the sail again.

“Sure.”

“It’ll give us a chance to get better materials to make the board with. I’m not sure metal works.” Lin inspected her foot, rubbed raw from the metal and her palms which were covered in rope burns.

“Time to bug Uncle Sokka then.” Kya nodded as she managed to muster enough energy to heal Lin as Bumi sailed them back to Air Temple Island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sokka takes Bumi and Kya ice-dodging change my mind


	20. Playing Favourites

They spent the evening at Sokka and Suki’s, drawing up designs and planning materials. Wood was the favoured one, but it would require time to shape it and form it. For now, a metal board would have to suffice. Lin made it up anew from spare metal, having restored the anchor to its original form, and made sure to make the foot hold big enough to fit a boot, which would cut down on the chafing.

“It’s going to be too small or too big anyway.” Kya pointed out, as Suyin stood on the board and waved her arms, pretending to surf.

Lin shrugged. “I can bend it to fit whoever’s on it. Which is _not_ going to be you, Su.” She lifted her sister off and went back to shaping the edges of the board, curling up the front a bit more.

“It’s not going to be me either, unless we can find another waterbender.” Kya slumped down on the sofa.

“You could always ask your mom.” Sokka suggested. “She loves surfing. She’d be a pro at this. And then you and her could take turns.”

“Wouldn’t she think it’s too dangerous?” Lin was sceptical.

Sokka shook his head with a grin. “Ask her. Bet you she says yes.”

“I’ll take that bet!” Bumi held up his hand.

“I bet she won’t allow us to go out at all if Su’s onboard too. Mom’s working tomorrow so Su’s with me.” Lin sighed. She gave Su a spare bit of metal and showed her the motion for bending it into a smooth arc, repeating slowly until Su managed to pull the metal into a jagged edged half circle.

“If she does then we’re going to need a bigger boat.” Kya let out a huff of air.

Katara lost Bumi and Lin their bets by not only allowing Su to come but agreeing to come with them. Lin was amazed to see a strange twinkle in Katara’s eye as she helped them get the boat out. They didn’t bother taking the sail with them; there wouldn’t be room for them anyway. Su was installed by Kya’s feet with strict instructions to stay there as the young waterbender got them underway. Lin busied herself setting up the handle and attaching the wire to the mast once more, aware of Katara watching her.

“Okay. We’re really out in the bay now. You ready to go?” Kya asked. She shared none of Lin’s nervousness at her mother’s presence, excited to show off her bending skills.

Lin took a breath, grabbed the board and went overboard, pulling the wire towards her. Bumi was at the tiller and waited for Lin’s thumbs up before passing on to Kya that she was ready. As yesterday, Kya slowly increased the speed until Lin was upright. She frowned in concentration, trying to ignore Su’s whoops of delight at the speed, not wanting to faceplant in front of Katara who was watching her with a smile.

Bumi stared at his mother as she stood up slowly and then bent a small column of water towards her and slid on it off the boat. She made a small board of water, the same shape as Lin’s and bent her own wave and surfed right alongside her, body crouched low and arms out at the side.

“You’re not the only one with bending tricks.” Katara shouted at her over the sound of the water, when she saw Lin’s mouth hanging open.

It closed into a grin. Time to show off then. Lin bent the wire and executed her spin in midair, successfully landing this time with a triumphant shout.

“Impressive.” Katara nodded and then bent her wave so it arced right over Lin, showering her with water droplets.

“GO MOM!!” Bumi yelled back at them, waving his arm in encouragement as Katara bent herself up and spun on her waterboard three times before letting the water drop down.

Lin scowled in concentration, using her wire to whip herself into the air, let go of the handle and managed two flat turns with her board before having to bend the handle back up towards her. This time she did overbalance but Katara saved her by gently bending the water to right her again.

“Okay!” Lin signalled to Bumi to ask Kya to stop. That last move had got her heart pounding and she sank gratefully into the water, passing the board to Bumi before hauling herself into the boat.

“My turn now!” Bumi looked ecstatic. “Time to show you benders how it’s done!” He waited until Lin had adjusted the foothold for his boots and then dived off the side of the boat.

“I’ll take over.” Katara relieved Kya from her place at the mast. “You help Lin with the tiller.”

Kya bent the water off Lin and then they sat together at the tiller, Lin bending the handle for Bumi to grab and watching for his signals.

Bumi always claimed afterwards that he’d meant to surf along with only one foot on the board, other stuck out to one side. And wasn’t it the most amazing trick that he managed to bend down to grab the board as the other foot hit the water? And he’d clearly outdone them all as his foot slipped out the holder and he’d ended up hanging on with one hand, his other hand clutching the board and somehow still skiing along on his bare feet. They hadn’t done anything like that.

They all agreed. They especially hadn’t ended up skiing barefoot on ONE foot and then spectacularly cannonballing as they’d lost their balance. Even Lin was impressed by that. It made her minor faceplant seem like nothing.

“AND I kept hold of the board.” Bumi patted it with his hand, wincing as Katara pulled water over his ankle.

Lin nodded absentmindedly, watching Kya zoom around the boat, surfing on the water like her mother had, Suyin hanging onto her waist. She’d pestered to have a go on the board, which had been firmly shut down by all of them, and Kya had offered it as an alternative. Her sister seemed to be taking after her in the seeking of thrills. Lin was not looking forward to when her sister was a good enough metal bender to be able to use wires by herself. Lin considered herself measured in her risks, her accidents from a lapse in concentration rather than judgement. Su seemed far more reckless and Lin was concerned about the mishaps that would occur.

“Take me next!” She jumped up as Kya deposited Su back in the boat.

“Take yourself, I’m tired!” Kya flopped into the bottom of the boat and sprawled there with a grin.

“I can take you.” Katara offered.

Lin stared awkwardly, suddenly unsure. “Uhh. It’s okay. You’ve been healing.”

“I’m not tired. I have more stamina than Kya, despite being older.” Katara grinned down at her daughter.

“But you have to take us back too.” Lin couldn’t explain why she felt awkward at going with Katara and not with Kya. “And we don’t have the sail. I don’t want to get stuck out here.”

“Lin? Being responsible??” Bumi clutched at his chest dramatically.

“You don’t have to come up with excuses. Just admit that I’m your favourite waterbender.” Kya laughed.

“I’ll bend us back then.” Katara sat down by the tiller and gently bent water, occasionally glancing at Lin as she hung over the side of the boat, trailing her fingers in the water.

“But I am your favourite waterbender, right?” Kya tugged on Lin’s shirt.

“Uhh sure.” Lin blinked in bafflement.

“Even more than Dad?” Kya cricked her neck so she could stare Lin in the eye.

“Aang’s the _Avatar_.”

“But he _can_ waterbend.” Katara pointed out. “I know. I taught him.”

“Ha! So?” Kya waited expectantly.

“So you’re my favourite waterbender.” Lin muttered, unsure how the entire conversation had got started.

“Yeah! But I’M your favourite nonbender right??” Bumi shouted over Kya’s triumphant whoop.

“And I’m your favourite earthbender!” Su caused the boat to rock as she grabbed hold of Lin’s arm.

Lin growled in exasperation. “Okay! Yes. To all the above.”

“Well, you’re my favourite earthbender.” Kya said after a moment’s silence.

“And mine too.” Su leaned against Lin as she sat with her head on the gunwale.

“I’m gonna go with Su and Kya here.” Bumi agreed, paying no attention to Lin’s embarrassed groan. “What about you, Mom? You a member of the Lin Beifong Appreciation Society?”

“I could not possibly say because my husband is an Earthbender.”

“Aw what??”

“No! C’mon! That’s biased! He’s the _AVATAR_. Lin was right!”

“Wait! Are you gonna say Toph??”

“You can’t possibly say Toph!”

“What about me?” Su piped up.

“Well I guess I’m safe. I’m the only non-bender so I’m everyone’s favourite by default.”

“Apart from Sokka.”

“Hey no wait! That’s biased too! Siblings shouldn’t count.”

“Lin and Su are siblings. And hey!! Are you saying I’m not your favourite waterbender??”

“What about me, Bumi?”

Bumi looked between his mother and his sister, trying to gauge who would wield the most power to dish out the most revenge. “Uhhh…Mom is?”

The argument rose in volume as Kya hosed Bumi full in the face and Lin wondered how long it would take her to swim to Air Temple Island if she threw herself overboard now.


	21. The Best Pirate

The next time they went out on the boat, they went without Katara. Kya and Bumi were determined that Lin should learn some acutal sailing and Su was happy enough to accompany them. To make it fun, Bumi declared them all pirates. There was a brief fight over who would be Captain, which Lin won by the dint of the argument that she’d be giving orders. Kya claimed First Mate on the basis she was the only one who’d remembered to bring any food for their voyage. Bumi took Bosun, admitting that as the most experienced sailor of all of them, he’d be best at sorting out any emergencies and Kya made Su chief lookout and cooks assistant.

Lin successfully sailed them around the island, sailing with and beating against the wind. She took them out further, almost to the edge of the bay.

“This is far enough Lin!” Bumi warned, as the boat dipped into the troughs of the deeper waves.

“Is there anywhere else to go?” Lin turned the boat round, tacking back towards the docks of Republic City.

“I know! Why don’t we be REAL pirates and steal something!” At the look of shock on Lin’s face, Bumi amended. “Not really steal something. But we should like…attack the Temple! And steal some loot.”

“And more food.” The supply of snacks had been somewhat decimated by Su and Bumi.

“And then…no wait. We’ll split into teams and steal something. And then we’ll bury it somewhere on the island. And then! We’ll draw maps and mark the spot with an X and then give the map to the other team and they have to find where it’s hidden!”

“Yes Bumi!” Kya made the boat rock as she leant over to high five and hug her brother. “This is a brilliant plan!”

“Uhh…what exactly are we stealing?” Lin felt as the daughter of the Chief of Police she should really be objecting to this.

“Well we won’t _steal_ something really.” Bumi relented. “I know! You guys steal something of mine, and we’ll steal something of Kya’s. And then it’ll just be on us.”

“Touch any of my stuff and I will bury _you_ Bumi. Look. We’ll be finding it again anyways! It won’t matter. We won’t steal anything important.” Kya reassured Lin.

Lin considered this and agreed.

“Alright! The two teams will be me and Su and Kya and Lin.” Bumi returned Su’s highfive.

“Yes!” Kya threw an arm around Lin’s neck in a friendly headlock. “Oh we’re going to win. You guys will _NEVER_ find our treasure.”

“This is not a competition, Kya.” Bumi said calmly. “This is a friendly opportunity to ABSOLUTELY MAKE SURE YOU GO DOWN!!”

“We’re all going to go down if you don’t stop rocking the boat! Now SIT down so I can change tack!” Lin put on her best attempt at a Captain’s voice, fed up with the waggles in her wake from all the exuberance in the boat.

“Aye aye Captain!” Bumi saluted and dropped below the gunwale with Su as the boom swung over.

Lin couldn’t help grinning. She liked being Captain, she decided.

“It’s a shame we don’t have two boats. We could race too. And have sea battles!” Bumi’s eyes misted over as he envisioned it.

“Sword fights.” Kya sighed.

“Where would we get swords from though?” Bumi sighed back.

Lin had her bending jacket on, as she always did, even when they were on the water. She silently took Kya’s hand and put it on the tiller. And then stood up and bent both of her wires into two short scimitars. Bumi swore and backed away as Lin pointed them both at him. 

“Please tell me those things are blunt, Lin.” Kya gripped the tiller.

Lin imperceptibly shifted her hands on the handles. “Yes.”

“You hesitated.” Bumi said accusingly.

“It’s blunt now.” Lin made one blade disappear and wrapped her hand around the blade of the remaining one and squeezed to prove it.

“Make me a sword too!” Su clapped her hands.

“Don’t!” Kya warned.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to.” Lin bent her other wire all the way out and coiled it into Su’s hands. “Like this.” She showed Su how to manipulate the metal into a sword.

“That’s worse!!” Bumi bellowed as Kya groaned.

Lin ignored them and helped Su smooth the jagged edges into blunt ones.

“If you start sword fighting now, I will waterbend you BOTH off the boat and leave you here.”

Lin took the sword off Su and bent the metal back onto their reels and sat back at the tiller with a glint in her eyes.

“Oh this is gonna be fun.” Bumi grinned. “It’s on now.”

Lin steered the boat up to the pier and Bumi leapt off to tie up the painter and then bent down to drag Su after him.

“Give us a head start!” He yelled over his shoulder as they ran off.

Kya helped Lin furl the sail but they left the mast stepped. Kya picked the remnants of the food out, offering Lin the last bun. She took it and devoured it, listening to the distant yells of Bumi and Su, and possibly some of the unsuspecting Temple staff.

“Hey! Can I have a sword? A blunt one.” Kya made sure to specify.

Lin grinned and bent her wires back into swords. Kya tested the blade given to her suspiciously, but she was satisfied and stuffed it in her belt.

“So what should we steal, Captain?”

“Not something that’s going to get us into trouble.” Lin made a face.

“Some pirates we’re going to be.” Kya sighed. “I know! The statue in Dad’s study.”

“The what?”

“It’s a statue of some famous airbender. But he’s not even here so it’s not like he’s going to miss it.”

Lin looked sceptical but was willing to take Kya’s lead.

“So who’s the famous airbender?”

“Someone called Guru Laghima. You’d like him Lin. He could fly, without anything. No glider, no wires, no airbison. He could just fly.”

“How?? Even Aang can’t do that and he’s the Avatar.”

“He wrote this poem about it. It’s written inside this locket that Dad keeps. I’ll show you. That would probably be a better thing to steal. Smaller.”

They’d reached the Air Temple and Kya motioned for Lin to be silent as someone walked by, before leading her through to Aang’s study.

“This place looks more like a shrine than a study.” Lin looked around. “What do you think Bumi and Su are stealing?”

“I dread to think. Here it is.” Kya held out what looked like a charm.

Lin clicked it open. “Let go your earthly tether. Enter the void. Empty, and become wind.”

“I thought you’d like it. Now where should we bury it?”

“Your cove.”

“What? That’s a secret cove.”

“But it’s perfect! You can only get there by waterbending or by rappelling down the cliff.”

“Aren’t Bumi and Su meant to be able to _un_ -bury it?”

“Bumi will find a way.” Lin let out a rare laugh.

“And Su can use wires already?”

“No.” Lin let a far more common sigh. “But she wants to.”

“Well seeing her older sister fly about the place has something to do with that I imagine.” Kya said. “Okay. We’ll use the cove. Want to waterbend there?”

“Sure!”

They raced back down to the pier, their treasure now round in Lin’s neck and tucked into her shirt. It was heavier than Lin expected as it bounced off her chest as she ran.

Kya grabbed her arm and hauled her close as she leapt off the pier and bent a board from the water, sweeping them off round the island towards the cove. Lin stumbled as a wave deposited them on the beach.

“Ahh. We forgot to bring spades.” Kya frowned. “And a treasure box.”

Lin collected some small pebbles and bent them into a rough box, gently placing the locket in it. She took a deep breath and then concentrated. She’d never tried sandbending before but really it was just very fine pieces of rock, just like the very fine pieces of earth in metal. She closed her eyes and knew she’d been successful by the feel and Kya’s low whistle. She placed the box at the bottom of the deep hole and then covered it back up.

“Back to the temple then!” they waded out into the shallows and Lin clung onto Kya once more as she took them back.


	22. A Point That Tells Against You

Lin and Kya ran up the steps, discussing how they’d make the map seem like a proper treasure map and what methods Bumi might use to be able to reach the cove. Kya was agreeing with Lin that Bumi would probably just climb down the cliff with his bare hands and feet when she threw an arm out to stop Lin in her tracks. They both stared at the horror that lay in wait for them.

Bumi and Su had clearly raided Bumi’s wardrobe. They were rakishly dressed in torn up clothes and sporting colourful bandanas. And Su had clearly remembered the trick of bending metal into swords.

“Oh you just haaaddddd to go and teach her how to make swords.” Kya drew the one Lin had made her from her belt. “Have fun explaining that one to Aunty Toph.”

“Let’s just hope she remembered how to make them blunt.” Lin winced and bent herself a sword.

“It’s on your head.” Kya grinned.

“Hopefully not!” Lin quipped back, readying herself in a stance as Bumi led the charge down the steps, whooping and yelling.

Lin took on Su, whose technique of waving the sword wildly, whilst easy enough to avoid, meant there wasn’t much of an opportunity for fighting back. Kya fought Bumi whose skill was surprising.

“When did you learn how to sword fight?!” She managed to block a blow on sheer luck.

“I keep telling you guys! While you’re all off learning how to bend, I’m learning the cool stuff. Like sword fighting.”

“Uncle Sokka?” Kya dodged out of the way and just kept running.

Lin had finally managed to disarm Su by bending the sword out of her grasp.

“Hey! No bending!” Bumi swept up the sword as he raced after Kya.

“You can use two swords??” Kya yelled. “A little help please Lin??”

“Yeah! Uncle Zuko’s been training me too!” Bumi laughed raucously, easily fending off a back attack from Lin.

Lin was unable to offer any more assistance to Kya as Su charged her from the side and sent her and her sword flying in opposite directions. Su sat on Lin’s chest and bent the sword into her hand, crowing as she held it against Lin’s throat. But Lin wasn’t going to lose to her little sister. She bent the earth under Su’s feet and sent her toppling to the side.

“No bending! Cheat!””

“You bent the swords in the beginning.” Lin pointed out, ducking as a small boulder was sent flying her way. She ended the earth bending match quickly, by drawing earth up around Su, before rescuing her sword and pointing it at Su. “Where did you get the metal from anyway?”

“The kitchen!” Su growled at her and tried to break free.

“And what, if I were to ask, would you four come up with as a story for what’s going on?”

Lin froze at the sound of Katara’s voice and then hastily unfroze, bending the sword back onto its reel and freeing her sister. She looked round and saw Kya on the floor, Bumi next to her groaning and holding his stomach, the swords forgotten on the floor.

“Shame Sokka didn’t teach you that.” Kya grinned, getting up to face her mother.

“I’ll remember it for next time.” Bumi wheezed, taking Kya’s hand and hauling himself to his feet.

“Kya.” Katara called sharply.

“Well, you know Bumi’s going to join the military right? So it’s important for him to have as much combat experience as possible!”

“Yeah! And who better to know all my defensive weaknesses than my own sister?” Bumi coughed and recovered himself.

“So we decided to fake an attack on the Temple.”

“And I take it Lin is responsible for the swords.” Katara turned on the young earthbender who was currently creeping quietly towards them.

She identified her own metal and bent it onto the reel but had no idea what to do with the other two.

“Acutally, those two are Su’s doing. We…borrowed some pans.” Bumi explained.

“Not helping Bumi!” Lin hissed.

“And _how_ does Su know how to make _swords_ from _pans_?”

“Ohhh. Sorry Lin.” Bumi winced as he realised his mistake.

“Lin taught me!” Su bounded up to stand in line with the trio. “She teaches me all sorts of things. But she made sure I knew how to make them blunt.”

Lin closed her eyes, contemplating whether she could earthbend the ground to swallow her up.

“How responsible of her.”

Lin opened one eye, the hint of amusement in Katara’s voice suggesting she had some hope of coming out of this without Toph getting to hear about it. 

“Yeah look!” Su took the swords from Lin’s unresisting grasp and bent them back into their original shape.

Even with the threat of being in Very Big Trouble, Lin was impressed at her sister’s ability.

“Well done Su. Now you take those back to the kitchen where they belong, while I talk to these three.”

It wasn’t really much of a talk. Katara merely stared at them until Bumi shuffled his feet and apologised. Kya’s apology didn’t sound very heartfelt. Lin tried to make hers as sincere as possible. They sat down on the steps, once Katara had disappeared back into the temple to find out why Su was taking so long.

“That wasn’t so bad.” Kya said, as Bumi collapsed backwards.

“Well, I guess she’s used to us by now. At least she didn’t find out about the pirate part.” Bumi sighed in relief. Then bolted upright. “The sacred texts! We stole Dad’s airbending scrolls from the library!” He disappeared into the temple as Lin scrambled upright.

“We should probably rescue our treasure too.” Kya got up in far less of a rush.

“I’ll go! I can go faster on my wires.”

“Just don’t hit any trees.” Kya called after her as Lin pelted off into the woods, swinging what was by now a well known path through the woods.

She didn’t stop at the cliff edge, merely ran straight over it and sent out the wire as she fell, rolling as she hit the sand and then stared at the small stretch of beach, realising their mistake. They’d been so focussed on where they’d mark the X on the map, they hadn’t marked any kind of X in real life. She tried to remember, thinking back. They’d landed there, walked up. It must be…around here! Grounding herself ready, Lin thrust as much sand as she could from the area she thought it was, hissing from the effort. Why had she made the hole so deep? But there it was! She thrust an arm out and grabbed the stone box, flailing as the sand rushed back and threatened to bury her too. She dug the pendant out of the box and tugged it over her head, before using a wire to hurl herself back to the top of the cliff edge, ignoring the slight stitch in her side as she ran back to the temple.

She walked the last stretch, knowing that to be seen running was to invite further scrutiny from Katara and with any luck, this part of today’s escapade would never be found out about. But the day’s horrors were not yet over. She was walking across the courtyard when a familiar voice called out.

“Lin! Come here! I’ve got to show you this!” Tenzin walked out from the air bison house, waving at her. He was smiling excitedly. “You’ll love this!”

Not wanting to appear suspicious, she followed him back into the air bison house. For a moment, all thoughts of her current mission were driven from her mind, at the sight of a huge ball of fluff curled up there, although still tiny for an air bison.

“His name’s Oogi. Now I can take you flying, even when Dad’s busy. He should take both of us. He seems really strong.”

Lin sank to her knees and reached a hand out to stroke the soft fur on Oogi’s head. “He’s amazing.” She breathed.

“He is.” Tenzin nodded proudly. “Dad promised when I turned thirteen, we’d look for one. And I found him. Well, he found me.” Tenzin corrected himself. Lin looked up and saw that the young airbender was practically glowing. It made a change from his usual solemn self. “Do you want to go for a ride? Tomorrow though. He’s tired out from the journey home.” Tenzin knelt beside Lin and laughed as Oogi butted him backwards. “You’re staying over tonight, right?”

“Uhh…” Lin leapt to her feet. “I think so? I just…have to go do something real quick. I’ll be back!” she darted out the air bison house, praying Tenzin wouldn’t follow her.

She couldn’t find any sign of Kya, Bumi or Su in the main temple and abandoned the search, deciding to head straight to Aang’s office. Hopefully, he’d be with Katara and wouldn’t have gone straight there. A hope that died in her heart as she opened the door to find Aang sat at his desk, Katara standing next to him and Kya, Bumi and Su already in a line in front of them. Clearly, they’d already been caught.

Lin crept quietly to the statue and replaced the locket before standing at the end beside Su.

“So.” Katara started.

“It’s my fault.” Lin stepped forward before anyone could say anything. After all, she was going to be in trouble about the swords anyway, might as well take the blame for this as well. “It was my idea.”

“Hey! It was _my_ idea!” Bumi pushed past her, jabbing a thumb at his chest.

“No it wasn’t! Bumi’s idea was for us to steal something from each other. I’m the one who said to steal something more high risk.” Kya pointed out.

Aang held up his hand and they all fell silent. “Whoever came up with the idea, I get the feeling you all know that what you did was wrong, so I don’t see the point in explaining why it was wrong. I can only ask why you decided to do something you knew was wrong?”

“Well, I guess for starters, we didn’t think you’d be around to find out about it.”

Lin’s eyes went wide, and she didn’t dare shift her gaze from Aang to stare at Kya.

“Kya.” Katara warned and the young waterbender lapsed back into silence.

It was swiftly broken by Bumi. “What? She’s not wrong. How’re you going to notice anything missing when you’re not even here?” 

Lin grabbed Su’s hand quickly, giving it a small squeeze and when her sister looked up at her, gave a small shake of her head. The last thing this needed was for Su to blurt something out.

“We figured we’d have weeks, maybe even months before you came back. Plenty of time to return everything.” Kya spoke up again.

“I guess it’s upsetting for you that I’m stealing the scrolls, rather than spending my time reading them and studying all the things I’ll never be able to do. But oh well.” Bumi shrugged. “I guess it’s just one more disappointment to add to the list that started the moment I was born a non-bender!” He said the last bit over his shoulder as he marched out the door, not even bothering to slam it behind him. Kya gave her parents a disgusted look and then followed him out.

Lin stared after them, stunned. Her surprise was mirrored in Aang’s face when Lin turned back to look at them but Katara merely looked tired as she put a hand on Aang’s shoulder.

“You should go, Lin.” Katara said quietly.

Lin nodded. She knew she should probably apologise but she wasn’t entirely sure who she’d be apologising to and what for. “C’mon Su!” She tugged her sister after her.

“Why was Bumi so mad at Aang?” Su asked as they walked softly along the corridor.

Lin shrugged. Deep down she felt she understood why Bumi was mad, and Kya too, but it was not something she could put into words, certainly not words that Su would understand.

She knew they should go home, that any offer to stay the night had probably been withdrawn but she wanted to find Bumi and Kya and say goodbye at least. She found them both in Bumi’s bedroom. Bumi was sat on his bed, staring at his hands as Kya hugged him.

“Hey Lin.” Kya spotted her first and beckoned her in.

Lin sat Su down on the floor, bending one of her wires out for Suyin to practice making shapes with. “Are you guys going to be in trouble?” she asked, sitting down next to Bumi.

He laughed sadly. “Well, I’m old enough now that I don’t really get in trouble. Dad just looks all solemn, Mom gives a lecture maybe.”

“Maybe she’ll lecture Dad this time.” Kya scoffed. “She got left behind too after all.”

“I don’t get why she didn’t try and get Dad to take us along. We all went for my Ice Dodging. Well you didn’t all come on the boat, but you were all there.”

Lin didn’t say anything, kicking her legs against the bed frame. She was secretly, selfishly glad that they’d stayed behind, the summer holiday had been way more fun than she suspected it would’ve been if it’d just been her and Su, long hours trapped inside the apartment waiting for Toph to finish work.

“I should go home.” She said, at the thought of Toph finishing work, and slid off the bed. Although, again secretly and selfishly, she hoped the fight would make Katara forget about telling Toph about the swords.

“Come back next week instead to stay the night. Me and Kya’ll take you night sailing.” Bumi offered as he stood up as well. “You can see all the stars! Kya’s so smart she can navigate by ‘em.”

Lin nodded and then hesitated. She didn’t usually hug people, she only tolerated Bumi’s because they were good ones. But this time it seemed he needed a hug and not just from Kya. She took a breath and then hugged him, trying to squeeze as tightly as he did.

It must’ve worked because when she stepped back he was smiling and looking more like Bumi again. “Thanks Lin.” He ruffled her hair.

She nodded and then collected Su from the floor. She’d bent the wire into a strange sort of necklace and Lin let her keep it on as they made their way to the ferry.

Toph was surprised to find them home when she came in from work. “What did you do this time, Lin?” she groaned, collapsing on the sofa, stretching her legs out in front of her.

“Well, we were playing a game. And then Aang came back early and found out about it. And he was mad. But then Bumi and Kya got mad at him." Lin hesitated, unsure how much to tell her mother. Would Toph side with Kya and Bumi, or Aang? Or Katara?

Toph let out a surprised “Huh!”

“It was because he went on holiday without them.” Lin decided telling the truth was easiest.

Toph was silent and seemed to be digesting this. “We should go on holiday. We’ve never been on one, right? Maybe for winter. Take you to see your grandparents. They’re always bugging me to visit with you.”

Kya and Bumi’s attitude must’ve been catching because Lin found herself asking in mock surprise, “You can take holidays from being Chief of Police?”

“Take a holiday from that attitude, kid. You’re not a teenager yet.”

“Like you were any better at my age.” Lin wanted to clamp her hand over her mouth.

“Huh. What’s Katara been telling you?”

“It was Sokka. When he and Poppy came after me that day. At least I don’t go round scamming people and fighting in earth bending competitions.”

“Oh yeah? Well maybe you should!” her mother grinned and stood up, trying to sweep Lin up in her arms.

“Arhh!” Lin managed to grab Toph’s hands and pushed them away, surprise filtering through that she was big enough to be able to, even if Toph wasn’t using all her strength in pushing back. “How. Can. I?” she said between gritted teeth as she felt her feet slipping on the floor. “There aren’t any earth bending competitions in Republic City.” Suddenly, Toph stopped pushing and fell backwards onto the floor, sending Lin toppling over next to her. Seeing her mother on the floor, Su leapt onto Toph’s stomach.

“Oof! Double attack is it?” Toph wheezed and bear hugged a giggling Su to her as she stood up.

“Yup!” Lin launched herself at her mother’s back, clinging on in what had become her traditional Lin-pet sloth style. Toph staggered backwards at the weight and then spun round in a tight circle. Su yelled in delight but Lin hid her smile in Toph’s shoulder, until they all collapsed in a heap.

Toph led on her front on the floor, head propped up on one hand, Lin sprawled across her back, Su tucked under her other arm. “I miss those days. Fighting the Boulder. The Hippo. It was so easy to beat them.” She laughed. “We should have earth bending competitions in Republic City. Then you _could_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> third time posting cos i'm finally happy with this chapter (as happy as I'm going to get)


	23. Fairies In The Wake

Despite the fact it was only just at the end of summer, it still felt bitterly cold, on the water in a boat under a clear night sky. Lin hadn’t brought any warm clothes, so Kya had lent her an old jacket, lined with fur. Bumi was led in the bottom of the boat, whistling and trying to tie knots without looking. Lin was sat by Kya at the tiller, staring at the glowing green sparkles in their wake. She’d been fascinated by them at first, as the boat pulled away from the island and Kya had teased her, warning her against staring at them too long, that they could hypnotise people and make them fall overboard.

They weren’t travelling fast; there wasn’t much wind. But the lack of wind meant that the water was as smooth as it could be and Kya was taking them out, beyond the curve of the bay, wanting to leave even the lights from the city behind. They sailed until they were past the point and Republic City was hidden by the cliffs, tacking parallel if a long way out from the shore. 

“Look Lin!” Bumi knelt up and shook her shoulder. She tore her gaze away from the sparkles in the wake and saw the sparkles above.

“There’s so many!” Her jaw dropped.

“There aren’t a lot of stars that are bright enough to compete with Republic City. But out here, it’s like a different world.”

“You should come to the South Pole. It’s even better there. Although even colder.” Bumi was shivering slightly.

“And of course, when you’re out in the middle of the ocean, there’s absolutely no lights. It’s just you and the sea.”

“Can you really navigate by them?”

“Of course!” Kya pointed out various stars and explained how to track their positions.

“Have you ever done it?”

“Not for real.” Kya admitted. “But one day.”

The wind was picking up and changing direction, blowing directly aft. Lin dropped down into the bottom of the boat and huddled together with Bumi.

“If only one of us was a fire bender.” Bumi said through chattering teeth.

“Knowing us three, we’d just set fire to the boat or something.” Kya laughed. “You ready to go home then?”

“Noo! C’mon. This has barely been an adventure. And we haven’t taught Lin hardly anything. Tell us one of your stories. The one about the Moon Princess and the Hare.”

“Hm. Alright then.” Kya luffed the sail and hauled it down, kicking Bumi to drop the anchor. Lin bent some of her metal into a windbreak and they wrapped themselves up in the sail, letting the boom weigh it down. A thin crescent moon had risen above the horizon and Lin thought it was the most beautiful thing she’d seen and said so.

“Uncle Sokka would agree with you there, Lin.” Bumi whispered.

“Me too. The Moon is a waterbending spirit that gives all waterbenders their powers.”

“Uncle Sokka told me he kissed her.”

“The moon spirit??” Lin’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.

“Yup!” Bumi nodded.

“I can understand that. She really is beautiful.” Kya sighed.

“Uhh…never tell him that I told you guys that.”

“Secret’s safe with me Bumi. You wanted to hear the story about the Moon Princess and the Hare?”

“Yes! It’s been ages.” Bumi wriggled until he was facing Lin and Kya.

“How ‘bout you Lin?”

“Sure!”

“C’mon Kya. In the deepest part of the South Pole…”

“In the deepest part of the South Pole…”

_In the deepest part of the South Pole is a small cave where a beautiful princess lives. She has brown hair and brown eyes and brown skin. Just as there are oases of water in the desert, so hers too is an oasis of green. All manner of animals live alongside her. And she cares for them all and heals any hurt that comes to them, by calling on the moon to help her._

_One day, a small white hare came to her, lame in one foot. She had been caught in a trap in the far north but had managed to escape and had travelled all across the world. She’d heard of the beauty and the power of the princess, and hoped that she could cure her twisted foot, which made it difficult for her to evade predators._

_The princess did her best but because the wound was old by the time the hare came, she told the hare it would take many months to heal it fully, if at all. The white hare would not be able to return to her home just yet._

_The hare assured the princess that she did not mind, that she was happy to stay here. As the months passed, the white fur of the hare turned brown, to match the princess. She hopped and played with all the other spirits and animals that lived there and slept in the cave at night beside the princess, happy all the while she waited for her foot to mend._

_And one day, it did. The jagged edges of the wound had left scars on her foot, but it no longer troubled her, and she could move as fleet of foot as she ever could, racing across the snow but always returning to the cave for it was the midst of winter now and there was no chance the hare would survive far from it._

_But when the summer came, the hare longed to be going home. She would miss the princess and told her so. The princess said, you need not miss me. Only look at the moon and I will be there with you. The hare pressed her nose against the princess’s cheek and set off across the snow. She journeyed many days that had no end, for it was summer and the sun hardly set. She reached a small town and found a boat that was departing and hopped on board it. Without the pain from her foot, she was able to enjoy the ride, and travelled all over the world, her coat turning from brown to white as she neared her home. There it was winter, but she had fed well on her travels and did not suffer. In the long nights, she would stay near the lip of her snow burrow and stare up at the moon, always thinking of the princess. She felt her spirit watching over her, but her heart began to ache, and not just from the cold of the winter._

_She missed the warm hands that held her and stroked her fur down smooth after the wind or sleep had ruffled it. She missed the laughter and the fun. Before she had always been happy in her snow burrow, but now she felt the keen sting of loneliness, far worse than the biting winter wind. The longing to be home was now replaced with a longing to return to the princess. She set out the moment the thaw began and stowed away on ship after ship and travelled all across the land until finally she reached the South Pole again._

_The princess was amazed to see the little hare again and swept her up in her arms, thinking at first she must be injured again. She checked her over and stroked the hare’s fur smooth._

_“You are not injured little hare?”_

_“No princess!”_

_“Then why have you come back here? You longed so to be home.”_

_“I did indeed long to be home princess. And now I am.” The hare assured her._

“There.” Kya yawned. “Happy?”

Bumi snored in reply.

“If the hare wanted to be with the moon princess, why didn’t she just stay there in the first place?” Lin asked sleepily.

“Well, if she’d stayed, she wouldn’t have found out how much she wanted to stay.”

Lin frowned, trying to figure out the logic. “Seems a long way to go just to find something out.”

“It’s a story, Lin.” Kya rolled her eyes.

“Hnh.” Lin grunted noncommittally and let out a long breath.

“Hey! Don’t you fall asleep too! We’ve got to get back.” Kya poked her but the earthbender was already asleep.

_Kya stared up at the moon. She’d wake them up in a bit and then they’d go home. But just for now she wanted to pretend that they were really far away in the middle of the ocean, on a long journey that would eventually lead them to find out what it was they’d wanted all along. She blinked to keep herself awake but eventually only the stars were left blinking, as the moon watched over the three curled up in the boat._

Lin was woken up by a bright light shining somewhere near her and by echoing shouts. She was felt stiff and constricted and tried to struggle upright.

Groans and mutterings from either side of her became curses as Kya and Bumi woke up too.

“We fell asleep in the boat!!”

The beam of light shone near them and then over them and the shouting increased, and the light stayed blazing in their eyes.

“Arghh.”

“I took the fall for the last idea. Who’s gonna be responsible for this one?” Kya asked, pushing the sail off them.

“Technically it’s mine.” Bumi sighed, shielding his eyes. “I even asked you for the story. Should’ve known it would send me right to sleep. Always did.”

The big steam ship slowed down as it neared them, but it still sent the little boat rocking. Bumi hauled up the anchor ready and then grabbed the rope that was flung down and they waited patiently as they were hauled near to the ship, Lin helping Kya stow the sail properly. A rope ladder was hung over the side and Bumi gesture for Lin to go up first.

She managed to get her cold arms and legs working enough to climb up it, followed by Kya. She was grabbed before she could haul herself onto the deck.

“Get her below!” That was Katara’s voice. “And you!”

Katara hauled her and Kya down into a cabin that was almost stiflingly warm. Hot cups of tea were placed in their hands and they sat in silence for a second before Bumi was also dragged in and shrouded in a blanket. Lin was grateful that Katara seemed more anxious than angry, but she suspected that as soon as it was confirmed that they were alright, the lecture would begin.

“We wanted to see the stars.” Lin decided to get in first with the explanation. “And there’s green glowing stuff that gets churned up in the sea that looks like stars too.”

“I know there is.” Katara’s voice was strangely calm and even.

“It’s really beautiful.”

“I know it is.”

“C’mon Mom. It’s the last week of summer. We wanted to go on an adventure together one last time before Bumi has to leave.” Kya joined Lin with the excuses.

“You mean one last time to scare everyone half to death?” Katara raised an eyebrow as she checked her daughter over.

“If you think about it, Kya and Lin are the same age you and Dad and Uncle Sokka were when you were flying around the world, and I’m even older than that _and_ I’ve already got my Mark.” Bumi pointed out. “So really. There was no need to get worried or anything.”

“Your father and I weren’t alone in the middle of the ocean on a tiny boat.”

“We were hardly in the middle of the _ocean_ , c’mon Mom.” Bumi protested. “It’s not like there’s vicious sea serpents about or anything.”

“And why did you bother teaching me to navigate by the stars, if you didn’t want me using it?”

“Alright you two.” Katara held up her hand. “Seeing as you’re all fine, I will just ask that in future you _tell_ us about these adventures? Particularly if you’re going to drag Lin along.”

“They hardly dragged me.” Lin felt she had to defend her friends on that point.

Katara stared at her. “No.” She said after a while. “I imagine you didn’t need any persuading. When we get back, it’s straight to bed for all of you. And yes, Lin.” She’d read Lin’s expression. “I will have to tell Toph about this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seeing the algae glow around you when you swim in the ocean at night is best thing ever. Night surfing is the BOMB because it looks so magical!!


	24. Chapter 24

Lin led on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. Being banned from going to Air Temple Island for the rest of the holidays was not the way she wanted the holidays to end. But then again they were ending in three days’ time anyway, which meant as punishments went it was hardly of a long duration. She sighed. And then it would be two more terms before Bumi would be leaving, she’d be going to the Upper School and Su would be starting at the Lower School. Which meant the next few months were going to be all exams and revising and probably no fun or time for anything. And Tenzin had an air bison. She was meant to be helping him look after Oogi. Instead she was stuck in the house.

She rolled off the sofa and wandered down to the cellar, hoping it would be cooler down there. She wrapped her arms around her legs. Su crept after her and sat down beside her on the steps.

“You know, if we’re both stuck here, you could teach me wires.” Su piped up.

“You’re not stuck here.” Lin pointed out, a little bitterly. For some reason, despite the fact that Lin had gone to Air Temple Island by herself at a younger age than Su was, Su never went there by herself. “You can go do whatever you want.” She rested her chin on her knees.

Su stared at her. “But it won’t be with you.” She said, as if the very idea of going anywhere without Lin was ridiculous.

Lin turned to stare at her sister, her lip twitching. “Okay then. You really want to learn wires?”

“Yes! That’s why I’ve been asking the entire summer!” Su slumped against Lin. “You taught me to bend swords. Swords is far more dangerous.” She added as if that were a decisive argument.

Lin thought that was debatable, but she stood up and got her bending jacket anyway. She laughed as she draped it round Su. On her, it was almost too small, even with the ability to adjust it, but it swamped Su. Had she ever been that small? Lin thought as she raided the first aid cabinet for some bandages to improvise gauntlets with.

“Otherwise the wires…” she began as she wrapped them round Su’s wrists.

“Hurt your wrists. I know.” Su nodded.

Lin reconsidered her sister. She looked so serious standing there, looking up at the hooks Lin had installed, even in the cellar. She bent one of her wires off its reel and curled it around Su’s wrist.

“Okay. So first of all just try and hit the hook with the wire, practice your aim. Once you master that, then we’ll work on retracting the wire and then after that, hitting the hooks when you’re moving.”

Su stared at the wire and then at the hook. She raised her hand, looking along her arm and then sent the wire flying out. Lin was impressed that it hit first time, the tip neatly coiling around the handle.

“I’ve been watching you do it all my life.” Su rolled her eyes at Lin’s surprise.

“Uh…well. Good.” Lin was stumped.

“And I _know_ to practice. Just like I had to for seismic sense. That took me ages to get. Cos you kept hiding.” Su brought the wire back around her wrist and then flicked it out again, hitting the next handle. “Watch this!”

Lin froze in horror as Su ran whilst retracting the wire, swinging herself with a gleeful shout to the other side of the cellar, using her legs to launch herself off the wall back towards Lin. She let go the wire and landed, throwing her hands into the air in celebration.

“Hm.” Lin snorted. She was impressed. And annoyed. A far cry from her early experiments. And she’d been a good two three years older than Su was now. Su frowned at the lack of praise and turned her back on Lin with a huff, sending the wire out again and swinging.

“This is fun! C’mon Lin.” Su giggled as she bent the wire to swing her round in a circle.

“Keep practicing then.” Lin stomped out the cellar and back to her room. She was angry. And angry because she felt angry. She led on her bed, circling the metal ballbearings above her hand, trying to calm down. So Su was good at metal bending. Surely she should be glad? Proud even! She groaned and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. Well, if Su was that good, then there was something that had to be done.

“I’m going out! Stay here.” She yelled down towards the cellar.

“But you’re grounded!” Su called back but Lin was already out the door.

She knocked on the door and groaned. If she’d stopped to think about it, she would’ve realised that no-one would be home at this time of day. It was only the school holidays. Not a holiday for everyone. She jumped when the door was answered anyway.

“Hello Lin.” It was Suki who welcomed her in.

“You’re home?” Lin followed Suki into the living room.

“Sokka’s working on some case files from home and I decided to take the day off. I take it you’re after Sokka. He thought you’d be needing a new jacket soon.”

“Uhh…acutally! It’s a jacket for Su.” Lin accepted the drink of juice.

“You’re teaching her your skills already?” Sokka had wandered in, roused from his work by the sound of voices.

“Sort of. She doesn’t really need it. She’s already good. So she’ll need a jacket too.” Lin slumped on the sofa, frowning at the glass.

“Well, I suppose she’s grown up watching you. That’s a masterclass in and of itself.” Suki laughed.

“Huh?”

“Well, I know I’ve only seen you practice a few times, but you always look to me as if you’re dancing on those wires of yours. The strength and agility needed to do what you do, not to mention talent at bending.”

Lin frown deepened into a scowl. “Su’s the one with talent.”

“Or maaaaybe she’s just spent her entire life watching you metalbend.” Sokka came back with his own drink. “You experimented a lot and made a lot of mistakes, like any good inventor does. That’s groundwork she doesn’t have to cover. Not to mention the lessons you have been giving her.”

“You’re both incredibly talented, Lin. It’s no wonder if she’s already that good, having that advantage.” Suki finished.

Lin sat perfectly still while she contemplated their point of view, staring at her glass as if it contained the secrets to the universe in the deep purple liquid.

“Heh. You remind me of my sister. When Katara was teaching Aang to waterbend? She got jealous because he picked it up so easily. But she’d had to teach herself how to do it and Aang had like a bajillion past lives who’d all been able to waterbend. You can’t compare those two experiences. And Aang still needed Katara to teach him.”

Lin gulped her juice down. “Thanks.” She said awkwardly. “I should probably get back. Officially I’m grounded.” She sprang up from the sofa and put the glass on the table.

“Of course you are.” Suki gave a wry grin. “If trouble is lightning, Lin, then you’re a rod of pure metal.”

“Call again when you’re not grounded, and I’ll measure you and Su up for your jackets!” Sokka called after Lin as she ran out into the hallway.

“Thanks!” She shouted back, slamming the front door shut behind her.

Sokka and Suki had made many good points, but Lin really agreed with Suki’s last one. Her imagination created all sorts of scenarios that could’ve happened in her absence. She burst through the door of the apartment, calling for Su but she was still in the cellar, unharmed, to Lin’s great relief.

“I’m practicing.” Su said sullenly as Lin clattered down the steps.

“I can see.” Lin hauled a smile onto her face as Su turned to face her.

“Where did you go?”

The smile dropped slightly at the disgruntled expression on Su’s face. “I went to see Sokka. Well it ended up being Sokka and Suki in the end. But he agreed to make you your own jacket. So we can swing together.”

Su’s face lit up. “Really??”

“Yup.”

“But we can swing together now too.” She grabbed Lin’s hand and dragged her into the centre of the cellar. Keeping hold of Lin’s hand, she used her other one to bend her wire up. “Now bend yours.”

“Huh?”

“To the same hook! C’mon! C’mon!!” Su tugged impatiently at Lin’s hand. Not wanting to disappoint her sister twice in one day, Lin bent her wire up too.

“What now?”

“Now run!” Su set off, running in a circle, dragging Lin round until Lin gave in and ran too.

“Uhh…” Lin didn’t have a chance to voice her concerns before Su retracted her wire. Lin hastily copied her, and the momentum built up from running kept them spinning round, their held hands keeping them from drifting apart. “Our wires are getting tangled!” she yelled. Keeping a firm grip on Su’s hand she yanked herself backwards, trying to set herself going the opposite way. She bent her wire and ended up nearly spinning them both out of control. “Whoa!!”

Su merely laughed in raucous delight and quickly picked up on the trick, letting go of Lin’s hand to spin herself faster and faster.

“Su!” Lin flicked herself through the air and grabbed at Su’s wire, hauling her away from crashing into the wall. But Su was still desperately attempting to control the wire, working at cross purposes to Lin. Lin let go and swung herself to grab Su instead, releasing her own wire as she curled protectively around her sister. Unable to hold the weight of both of them, Su let go her wire with a cry and they thudded to the floor, Lin rolling with Su still wrapped in her arms.

Lin gulped, trying to get air back into her lungs, not helped by Su kneeing her in the stomach accidentally as she scrambled off Lin.

“Lin!!” Su knelt beside her.

“It’s okay. I’ve done this before, remember?” Lin waved her off.

Su sat down. “I remember Mom had to take you to Katara to get healed.”

Lin merely grunted in reply to that as she slowly sat up. “How about you?”

“I’m fine.” Su extended her arms, stood up and spun round on one foot. “I think we need to practice more.”

Lin contented herself with nodding as she bent both the wires back onto their reels. She wasn’t the one that needed to practice. “I think that’s enough for today though.” She went back to her bedroom and fell onto her bed with a wince and a sigh. Her fears had been confirmed, that Su would be completely reckless with her wires, trying stuff out before she was ready, not building up slowly to attempting new stuff.

“Not at all like her older sister.” Toph cackled when Lin told her mother what had happened and explained her fears as they made dinner together that evening. 

“Well I decided to encourage her by getting Sokka to make her a bending jacket. Not at all like my mother.” Lin retorted, slamming a pan down on the cooker and picking up the knife. She’d been experimenting recently with chopping vegetables by metalbending the knife. It took considerably more effort but was a useful exercise in control. She snuck a glance at her mother, who’d fallen abruptly silent, wondering if she’d gone too far this time.

“Well, hopefully she’s already seen you make all the mistakes, so she won’t repeat them.”

“I haven’t made _all_ the mistakes.” Lin protested.

“You’re telling me you’ve got more left to make?” Toph asked drily. “That’s a terrifying thought, kid.” She laughed as Lin growled, pulling Lin into a hug that was more of a headlock. “Ahhh. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, kid. She’ll go off and make her own mistakes no matter how much you teach her.”

“Is that being like me or like you?” Lin rested her head against Toph’s side, unusually accepting her mother’s weird embrace.

“Call it being a Beifong and get back to making dinner.” Toph let her go and ruffled her hair as Lin concentrated on the knife once more.


	25. Second Flight

The return to school had meant a return to studying, in preparation for the exams. But Lin had an advantage. Tenzin was only a year older than her and had taken them just the year before. She spent a lot of time at Air Temple Island, holed up in the library studying with him.

“But you really don’t need to worry too much, Lin. You’re really smart.” He watched her frowning at the book she was reading.

“I’m good at _bending_ ‘Zin. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m clever.” She dragged her hands down her face. It felt like none of it was sinking in.

“Sure you are. You can figure things out and come up with new things. That’s really clever. All I do is learn about the past.” Tenzin sighed. “Um. Is that a new nickname?”

“Sure. ‘Zin and Lin.” She looked up at him and shrugged. “I can call you Tenzin if you want though.”

“No. It’s fine.”

“So. If you’ve got an airbison, does that mean you’re nearly a Master now? Are you going to get the tattoos?” Lin closed her book, giving up on it for now.

“Uh. No. Not yet. But soon! I mean, I know I’m older than Dad when he got his but…” Tenzin sighed again. “There’s so much left for me to learn. It’s not just airbending. It’s the entire way of life. We haven’t even really begun on the spiritual side yet. Dad says that’s for over the winter.”

“Hnh. There’s not really anything like that in earthbending. You got rocks. You move ‘em.”

“And metal.”

Lin crossed her arms. “Metal’s special. Earth is like a pull. It’s strong and grounding. Metal is more flexible and…” she gestured with a hand, trying to find words.

“Free?” Tenzin finished for her.

She stared at him. “Yeah.” She agreed quietly.

“Are you staying the night?”

“Mmhm.”

“I was thinking, tomorrow morning, we could go for a ride on Oogi. If you help me clean him.”

“Deal!” Lin grinned. For a flight on an airbison, helping wash one was a small price to pay.

Tenzin and Lin spent the morning washing and grooming Oogi, occasionally helped by Kya who doused them with water more often than she did Oogi. Now he was clean, dry and fluffy and sprawled in the courtyard outside the temple while Tenzin dried them off with blasts of air. He turned to Oogi and stroked his head, laughing as the air bison butted him gently. Lin attempted not to be jealous.

“Ready for a ride?” Tenzin turned to Lin with a smile.

Ever since returning with Oogi, he’d been more light-hearted. Lin had never seen her serious friend smile so much. But then again, if she had an air bison, she didn’t think she’d ever stop grinning. She nodded. Being able to fly on Oogi would be the next best thing. She hauled herself up to sit behind Tenzin.

“Okay Oogi! Yip yip!”

Lin grabbed Tenzin round the middle as Oogi leapt up. He was a lot smaller than Appa and Lin felt less secure sitting astride the tiny air bison’s neck than she felt in Appa’s saddle but it was an exhilarating sensation, looking down and seeing her feet dangle above nothing.

“Hey. Why don’t you wrap one of your wires around my waist?” Tenzin suggested, feeling Lin’s rather desperate grip round his waist. “That way, if you fall, you’ll still be attached to me and I can get us down safely. But Oogi won’t let you fall you know. Neither of us will.”

Lin made a flat band of metal and attached it round Tenzin’s waist before making another one for herself and joining them with a wire. It meant that she felt more confident sitting up more and taking in the view as they flew above the island, the cold air stinging her lungs and her eyes.

“What were the air temples like?” she asked, trying to distract herself from her fear.

“High. And old. But really interesting. And sad. There’s so much that’s been lost. Dad was really excited to show me everything. He’s planning even more trips.”

“Why didn’t he take everyone?”

“Hm? Well, Dad figured they’d get…I don’t know. Bored, I guess. Bumi has his training to do and Dad knows how much Bumi wants to join the forces. And Kya’s got her own thing with Mom. I know she wasn’t born at the South Pole, but I think Mom still sees her…kind of the same way Dad sees me. We’re the ones that are going to continue the traditions, y’know?” He shrugged. “I wish they would come along. It’s important for as many people as possible to know, just in case. And it was so much fun with Dad! It wasn’t just visiting the temples.” He described to her all the adventures he’d been on and Lin agreed; it sounded amazing.

“But tell me what you guys have been up to. I asked Bumi but he just shrugged, and Kya refused to tell me anything at all.”

“We got into trouble a lot.” Lin sighed.

“I heard about the night sailing.” Tenzin said tentatively. “Did you really all sneak out and then get lost in the middle of the ocean?”

“We were literally just by the shore.” Lin rolled her eyes. “But yes we did sneak out.”

“Hm. Maybe we could go flying at night. I mean, if we tell Mom, she should be okay with it.”

“I’ve been flying at night. On Appa. Once at any rate. Besides, with school, I don’t think they’d let us.”

“So have I! But I’ve never been by myself. In control of my own air bison!” Tenzin bent forward and patted Oogi’s head. “Do you want to try flying by yourself?”

“What??!” Lin grabbed Tenzin the round waist in case he was about to do something uncharacteristically reckless.

“I’d come up with you on my glider. I’ve got a big one now.” Tenzin gently guided Oogi back down towards the air temple. He tapped the metal around his waist as Oogi landed and Lin bent it back into her jacket. He slid down and then smiled up at her. “It’s not like you to back down from a challenge, Lin.”

She nearly fell off Oogi in shock at the fact that _Tenzin_ was teasing her. She folded her arms and scowled her defiance, and he went off to get his glider, still smiling.

“Now then Oogi!” he ruffled the air bison’s head, after he’d flicked his glider open. “You take good care of Lin now, you hear?”

The air bison let out a small growl, which Tenzin seemed to think was an affirmation. Lin dug her hands into the air bison’s thick fur, frowning with concentration. “Okay Oogi.” Her voice was slightly higher pitched than usual. “Yip yip!”

She flung her arms around Oogi’s neck as he lifted off, burying her face into his fur so she wouldn’t scream. This was very, _very_ different to flying on Appa. When she risked a glance around her, she saw Tenzin gliding alongside them. He smiled reassuringly.

“I told you! He won’t let you fall.”

“It’s me I’m not confident in!” Lin called back but she gripped hard with her legs and pushed herself upright until she was sitting. But she had to admit, Oogi was flying as smoothly and as level as airbisonly possible, taking her high over Republic City and then back out towards Air Temple Island in a broad sweep. She’d crowed when she first flew on her wires but the joy that was steadily overcoming her fear was too much for even that sound. It was such an effortless way to fly, no bending, no concentration, just trust in the animal who was flying. She could’ve let it go on forever but Oogi gave a small grunt and started to fly back down in a shallow dive.

She slipped off Oogi the moment he landed, hugging him to hide the fact her legs felt wobbly. Tenzin landed beside her, flicking his glider closed. “It’s amazing, isn’t it.” He said simply, watching her with a smile on his face.

She nodded and slowly let go of Oogi, stroking the arrow on his forehead. “Thank you.”

“Any time.” 


	26. Castles In The Sand

“Your new best friend isn’t here.” Kya called out as Lin walked into the temple hall. She was sat on a windowsill, one leg hanging down and swinging, gazing out across the courtyard.

Lin hauled herself up to sit opposite Kya. “You mean Oogi?”

“Dad should’ve got you an airbison too. Although we’d never see you again if he did.”

Lin let out a rare laugh at that. It was true; she’d taken Tenzin’s ‘Any time’ somewhat literally and whenever she wasn’t studying, was up in the air on Oogi. She stared out the window as well, up into the sky that was full of windblown clouds the colour of her wires. The trip over on the ferry had been choppy and she’d wondered at the worsening weather. It’d never been that bad in her admittedly short lifetime. The ferry captain had gloomily predicted a bad winter full of storms. It’d made Lin gloomy too; stormy weather would mean no sailing, no flying and possibly even no trips to Air Temple Island at all.

“Hello? Earth to Lin?” Kya waved a hand in front of her eyes. “Toph was right about you. You do have your head in the clouds. I get the feeling we lost you up there sometimes. Dad took you up that first time and you just never came back down.”

Lin blinked. “How can I be lost up in the clouds? I’m an _earth_ bender.”

“You’re a metal bender.”

“That makes a difference?”

“It does in you.”

Lin didn’t know how to respond to that so didn’t. She resumed her gazing, this time taking in the sea and the bay. “Where’s Bumi?”

“Training.” Kya shrugged. “What?” she spread her hands at Lin’s stare. “It’s not like we’re always a double act.”

“I’ll miss him, when he goes.”

“Join the club.” Kya pulled her other leg up and rested her chin on her knees, scowling at her feet.

“The We’ll Miss Bumi Society?”

Kya snorted. “He’s the only one who gets what it’s like.”

For the second time in as many minutes, Lin was lost as to what Kya meant. She thought hard for a moment. “Do you need a hug?”

Kya startled her by bursting out laughing. “You need to ask?”

“I don’t know!” Lin said hotly, jumping down from the windowsill. “I’m not like you! I don’t know when people need a hug.”

“That’s because no-one’s ever hugged you enough.” Kya leapt after her and bear-hugged her.

“Arrh!!” Lin growled, trying to escape. “I’m the one meant to be giving you a hug!”

Kya released Lin and held her arms up. “Okay.” She waited, her head tilted to one side, as Lin just stood there, scowling at her.

Lin thought about giving her a bear hug in retaliation. She knew from Bumi’s unfeigned wheezing that she was strong enough to give a good rib-crushing one. It was the kind of hug that comforted Lin, the kind her mother gave her, whenever Toph did hug her. But there was something about Kya that made her hesitate, made her hug gentle.

“It’ll be okay Kya. You’ll still have me and Tenzin.” It didn’t seem like enough somehow.

“I _do_ have other friends you know.” Kya pointed out, hugging Lin back and resting her cheek on Lin’s head. “And it’s not like Bumi’s going away forever and I’ll never see him again. It’s just…”

“It’s all changing. Su starts school, I go to the big school. Bumi’s leaving. It’s scary.”

“Yeah. Sort of. And the next big change for me is me leaving. So that’s…”

“Really scary.”

“Mmm. A bit. But I’ve always wanted to, for the longest time. And I’ve got a while left before that. So!” Kya let Lin go. “What do you want to do before I leave?”

Lin considered this, shoving her hands in her pockets and staring at the ceiling.

“Let’s go to the cove.”

“You want to go outside? In this weather?”

“It’s not raining. And even if it did, you could just…” Lin made a bending gesture.

“Fine. You’ll have to rappel us down though. I’m _not_ going to surf us round in this weather.”

Lin shrugged her agreement and Kya went off to get dressed in warmer clothes, bringing back a jacket for Lin too, which Lin protested against at first, on the basis that it might interfere with her bending the wires, but eventually put on after Kya just kept it dangling in front of her.

They set off through the woods, heads bowed against the wind. Lin looked up at the swaying branches.

“Don’t even think about it.” Kya warned.

“What? It’s a challenge.” Lin swung herself up to a thick branch. “It’s like being in a boat.” She tried to stand up, throwing her arms out as the branch dipped and decided sitting was probably the better option. She bent down a wire and Kya grabbed it, clambering onto the branch beside Lin as she retracted the wire.

The branch dipped further and creaked under the extra weight and Kya clung to Lin under she got her balance and was sat astride the branch. The moment Kya let go, Lin wrapped her wires around the branch and then dropped down, idly swinging back and forth.

“Show off.” Kya muttered. She reached into her waterbending pouch, and wrapped the water around her arms and then round the branch, yelling slightly as she leapt off to dangle beside Lin.

“Hi.” Lin grinned at her.

“This is really uncomfortable. Sort of painful. How strong are your shoulders that you can do this??”

“Pretty strong, I guess. I practice a lot.” Lin lifted her legs up to her chest.

Kya dropped down and Lin followed. “If we want to get to the cove today, we should get going.”

The wind was picking up and Kya made a few gestures. “Just pretending I’m an airbender.” She explained after Lin’s quizzical look.

When they reached the cliff, Lin removed a reel from her jacket and bent a small hole in the cliff top, a little way from the edge and half buried it there as an anchor. She gave the end to Kya, who took it a little nervously.

“I’ll bend the wire out as you go.” Lin explained. “Just walk down the cliff.”

“I can’t get a piggyback with you?” Kya grinned.

Lin looked up at Kya. The waterbender was nearly a foot taller than her. But Kya seemed to be serious.

“Uhh…I’ve never taken anyone bigger than me. Only Su.”

Kya glanced backwards towards the edge. “I did not appreciate how high this is.” She muttered.

Lin stopped her. “Hitch your belt up until it’s under your arms.”

“Okay.”

Lin bent two small clips from her second wire and attached them to the front of the belt, before bending two smaller wires to attach them to the first wire, until there was no visible join. Then she bent two small smooth handles and attached those slightly further up.

“There. Now you can’t fall.”

Kya took hold of the handles and tugged them experimentally. “Training handles?” She grinned.

“A failsafe. In case the belt breaks.”

“You think of everything.”

Lin flushed. “If accidents can happen? They usually do, at least when I’m involved. I’ve learnt to…look out for them.”

“You really are becoming responsible!”

“At least when other people are involved.” Lin corrected her, only half joking. “Ready? Tug three times on the wire when you’re at the bottom.”

Kya looked far happier now and edged almost confidently back. Lin took up position by the reel and closed her eyes, to better feel the tension in the wire as Kya made her way down. She felt three tugs sooner than she’d expected and felt for the clips to bend the metal back up to her. She collected her reel and then swung down with ease, walking to stand by Kya at the edge of the waves.

“So. This is bitterly cold, with the added danger of getting wet from either the rain or the waves. Why did you want to come here?”

Lin shrugged. She had to agree the spot wasn’t particularly inviting at the moment. There wasn’t even really anything to do except watch the sea.

“It’s your spot.” She said eventually.

“Yeah. Not in winter though.” Kya laughed softly. “This is for summer. Swimming. Building sandcastles.”

“We can still build sandcastles.” Lin muttered, folding her arms.

“Go on then.” Kya turned her back to the sea and gestured at the beach. “Build me a sandcastle.”

Lin turned round as well and took a deep breath, grounding herself as much as she could on the sand. She growled as she closed her eyes to feel the earth better, keeping in her mind’s eye the image of what she wanted to make. If Kya wanted a sandcastle, Lin was going to build a sand _castle_. She stamped and thrust her hands out, hearing a low rumble as sand crunched and came together. She stopped when it felt right and knew she’d succeeded by Kya’s low whistle. She opened her eyes to find the waterbender staring at her.

“Wow Lin.”

Lin flushed at the praise and tried to hide her grin with a scowl.

“Can we go in? Is it hollow?” Kya walked up to life size structure and gently touched it with a finger in case it was about to fall down.

Lin stomped and made a doorway. Kya let out a quiet gasp as she walked through it, winced at the sound, in case it made the entire thing fall down. Lin trod carefully behind her, unsure of the structural integrity of the sand herself. Kya tiptoed through the main hallway across to where stairs led up to a balcony.

“Uhh…” Lin watched as Kya gingerly put a foot on it. “I wouldn’t?” The foot sank slightly in the sand.

“Good point.”

“If it was earth…” Lin tried to explain.

Kya shook her head, waving away Lin’s apology. “It’s so amazing.”

“It’s not really. Katara was telling me they make entire houses out of snow and ice in the South Pole. And in the North Pole, there’s an entire city.”

“So you’ve stopped being afraid of Mom then.” Kya grinned.

“She helps me and Tenzin study. The Chief doesn’t really talk about stuff. History. Sometimes teachers ask me about it at school and I don’t know anything.”

“Ha. I know that problem.” Kya nodded sympathetically. “Not the not knowing, Mom’s pretty good at telling us stuff but the teachers ask for _weird_ details. Like ‘What happened exactly at this point?’ I just want to tell them to invite Mom or Dad in to talk about it. But it’s just so personal too. It’s none of their business. But if you’re the child of the Avatar and a Master Waterbender you just…you feel like you’re being watched. Even by Mom and Dad occasionally.”

“Is that why you like this cove? Why you want to leave?”

“Out there, I’d just be another waterbender. Another healer. No-one would know unless I told them. I’d be myself.” Kya squatted down and started carving patterns into the sand floor.

Lin considered Kya’s words, not understanding them. “I’m always myself.” She shrugged, wincing after the words had left her mouth; it sounded a strangely mean reply.

Kya rested her chin on her knee and smiled up at Lin. “Yeah. You really are Lin.”

For the third time that day, Lin didn’t really know how to respond to what Kya was saying. She looked around her and saw the fine trickle of sand that came down from above, sticking her hand into it and letting it flow over her fingers, not attempting to bend it.

“We should get out. I don’t think it’ll stay up much longer in the wind.”

Kya hummed and followed Lin out, shielding her eyes as Lin brought the rest of the sand crashing back to become just beach again. They stood there together for a moment, staring at where it’d been.

“I’ll go up first and set the reel up again.” Lin broke the moment by striding off towards the cliff face, bending her wires and rappelling back up the cliff face. She was busy making sure the reel was secure when two tendrils of water appeared over the cliff edge, followed swiftly by Kya’s face and then by the rest of Kya.

“What can I say? I watched and learnt.” Kya said in answer to Lin gaping at her, ruffling Lin’s hair as she walked past. “Shall we swing back?”

“Just don’t hit any trees.” Lin grinned. “I can’t learn your healing skills.”


	27. Solstice Greetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a day late but solstice greetings!

The ferry captain had been entirely correct, as Lin discovered one morning a few days before the solstice when she woke to find that the storm that had battered at their windows during the night had left in its wake a blanket of snow across the entire city. When she excitedly ran and told Toph this, her mother merely groaned in disgust.

“I can’t see in snow.” She complained as she sorted out breakfast. “It’s worse than sand. As bad as just being up in the air.”

“Do you think they’ll be okay on Air Temple Island?”

“Don’t even _think_ about trying to go there by yourself, kid!”

“I wasn’t going to!” Lin protested.

“Katara’s used to this kind of weather. They’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

The plan had been that Toph, Sokka and Suki would bring Lin and Su over to Air Temple Island for the solstice, but that no longer looked practical. Toph decided to head into work to sort out any problems, despite the fact she’d taken time off for the solstice. Lin spent the rest of the morning gazing out the window at people shuffling through the snow or playing in it, quickly turning it to slush. She sighed moodily at the loss of the perfect sparkling snow and the loss of the trip. Su was trying to swing around the apartment in her new jacket, having given up on pestering Lin to swing with her and the constant motion made the apartment seem very small.

There was a knock on the door in the late afternoon, just as Toph had returned from work. Lin opened it to find Aang stood there.

“I thought I’d come and collect you all before the next storm hits. Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Lin said fervently.

“Then Appa awaits you.” Aang grinned.

She fled to stuff clothes and a washkit into a bag, chivvying her sister and her mother through packing theirs. She shivered as they climbed up into Appa’s saddle, breathing clouds and pretending she was a dragon as the air bison rose into the sky.

“The sea hasn’t frozen!” she observed as they flew over it.

“It’s not that cold yet, Lin.” Aang laughed gently.

The snow on Air Temple Island was still the same glittering smoothness that Lin had seen that morning and she leapt down from Appa and immediately threw herself into it.

“That’s really cold!” She jumped up again and brushed it off her, shivering half from cold and half from delight.

“Hey Lin!” Kya ran over to greet them. “Come and help us out! Mom’s beating us in the snowball fight and it’s just her! We’re outclassed.”

Swiftly abandoning the idea of packing and settling in, Lin and Su joined up with Kya immediately. Toph hmphed about not being able to see anything and Bumi left the group to come and commentate for her.

“And so the fight recommences. Is that a word? It is now! And Katara’s got the three youngsters pinned down already, behind a hastily bent shelter of earth provided by Lin. Suyin is doing brilliantly at rolling snowballs ready for Tenzin to fire. I’m not sure what he’s even doing in this fight, as an air nomad, but he seems to have laid his morals aside to help out his sister. Or else she roped him into it under some sort of threat, which seems the more likely. His aim is off by miles though, despite all the combat experience of growing up with Kya as an older sister. He keeps shooting and keeps missing!

Katara is bom _barding_ the earth shield but Lin is somehow keeping it firm. Kya is alternating between attacks from the side of the shield and lobs over it and OOOOHHH Katara just landed an entire boulder sized snowball on top of them! An air attack from the Warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. They’re going to need her healing skills after that! The kids are in trouble now, but Tenzin pulls out an airbending trick and splatters the snow all over the place, including on us. Thanks little bro! It’s even gone down my neck. He’ll be paying for that later but for now the four are back up and at ‘em.

Lin’s made a shield out of metal this time and …has passed it to Su! She’s dodged out from behind it and is drawing Katara’s fire, swinging off the balcony and coming in for a sneak attack from behind? OHHH!!! Katara, entirely distracted by this bold move, just got HOSED with an entire sheet of snow from Kya. Amazing! I don’t think she’s getting back up from that in a hurry. Lin’s now back on the ground and all four are running to get Katara while she’s down, absolutely piling on her, not even bothering with formed balls now, just grabbing handfuls of snow and shoving it ANYWHERE there is a chink in her armour. Suyin, going for the dirty move of down the trousers, Lin’s there at the shoes and Kya with the traditional back of the neck.

But wait! A new competitor has entered the arena! It’s Aang, coming in to defend his wife! And this is another surprise from the peaceful Air Nation! He’s just BLOWING them across the snow now, bowling them in every direction, with no mercy. They’re separated and in utter disarray! This could spell the end! Katara is back on her feet and now Aang and Katara are both snowbending, pelting the four youngsters into oblivion!

Is that the icy wind of despair I feel? NO!! It’s the draft of a dragon flying over! Oh ho! Three warriors from the Fire Nation are looking to heat things up but which side will they choose?? Oooh!!! And that’s a nice hot blast from Izumi there, as she melts through the stream of snow. There goes any chance of making snow lords later! Clearly she’s chosen the underdogs in this fight but Zuko is still undecided and merely stands there looking UTTERLY baffled at the proceedings. His wife has no problems instantly joining Katara and Aang, throwing snowballs with as deadly an accuracy as she does knives.

OOHH! And it looks like Kya has chosen Zuko’s side for him with an absolute STINGER of a snowball right to the back of the head, knocking him headfirst into the snow. He’s quickly back on his feet and running to stand by Aang and Katara. It’s a husband and wife and husband and wife team but this could be anyone’s fight now. Team Kya has the youth and numbers, but team Katara has the experience and two water benders to boot. But the shocks of the day aren’t over yet because Toph is making snowballs and laying them by my feet. Well I think that’s a pretty clear message! It’s time for this non-bender to prove he’s just as good as these jerk benders!”

“And with those bold words both Bumi AND my darling wife Suki have grabbed Toph’s ready-made missiles and are hurling them indiscriminately at both teams! That just goes to show, you shouldn’t mess with non-benders, particularly not my wife who has just a SAVAGE an aim as Mai. As she’s proving right now with that glorious headshot to Aang and I think he’s down! He’s down! This gives Team Kya a real chance to take this fight now! And yes! They’re charging forward, Bumi has joined them despite his earlier treachery and once again it’s just a pure free for all! There won’t be a single smooth surface of snow left on the island at this rate! And with that, this valiant commentator is going to give a wild yell and join in the fun! Sorry Toph!”

Toph was still struggling to control the tears streaming from her eyes as she bent double with laughter at Bumi and Sokka’s commentary. With the amount of snow that had been cleared in the fight, she could now vaguely sense where the group was and started lobbing snowballs half-blindly in their direction, determined to add to the chaos.

“We definitely need to come up with some sort of bending competitions or fights.” Toph said later on, as they all sat round a central fire in the hallway, warming up after having changed into dry clothes. “Bumi has a natural talent for commentating. That was hilarious. I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in ages. I don’t think it could’ve been funnier if I’d been able to see it.”

“You mean like the earth bending competitions?” Aang asked.

“Yeah but with more! Water and Fire too. To make a team, not just two people. Couldn’t have air on there unless you and Tenzin are gonna fight for everyone.”

“I’m not sure it’d be appropriate anyway.” Tenzin pointed out. “It was fun today though.”

Lin snuggled further down inside her blanket. “It sounds brilliant.”

“Well I think that’s a solid yes from the Earthbenders!” Bumi said in his commentator voice.

“Well, you know all about bending competitions, Toph. You should come up with something.” Katara agreed.

“Yeah.” Toph leant back, lost in the idea. “But no snow. And no metal bending. No tricks. Just pure elements. Earth, Fire and Water. On a platform, like the Rumble was and once all your team get knocked off? Game over.”

“I can see we’ve inspired you, Toph.” Aang smiled.

“That doesn’t sound much fun though. All you’d have to do is waterbend and you could hose all three off at once. Or make a huge boulder and take everyone out.” Sokka pointed out. “That’s not going to be much of a fight.”

“We’d make that an illegal move! And no combining elements either. And okay so maybe there are several rounds. And areas! You’d get knocked back beyond a line, but you’re still in the fight, it’s just harder because you have less ground before you _are_ off the platform.”

“Hmm.” Sokka whipped out a brush and a pad of paper. “So. Something like this?” He held it up.

“Sokkaaa…” Toph waved a hand in front of her face.

“Ahhh!! Sorry. Excitement of the moment. Okay so I know in the earth rumble it was a square, how about more a rectangle? Or a circle! Concentric circles. That gives you the extra areas. And of course earth bending the entire arena like you used to see in the Rumble is right out. It’s got to be fair for the fire and water benders too…”

“I think this is going to take a while.” Kya muttered to Lin. “Want to go get checked into Air Temple Hotel?”

Lin nodded and, wrapping her blanket around her and grabbing Suyin’s hand, followed Kya back to the room she always slept in.

“That. Was so. Tiring.” Suyin flopped onto Lin’s bed and almost instantly started snoring. Lin spread her blanket over her sister and sat crosslegged next to her.

“But it was so fun.” Lin whispered, half to herself.

“Of course it was! And you even managed to get your favourite activity of swinging off buildings in there.” Kya shunted herself backwards across the bed until she was leaning against the wall. “Ha! It was a brilliant distraction too. We make a good team.” She nudged Lin with her elbow.

“Well if Mom and Sokka do make a new bending competition, we should make a team.” Lin stared at her fingers

“Whaddaya say Izumi?” Kya asked the firebender who’d come to join them. “Together we’d make the earth, fire and water they mentioned.”

“I think they’d consider you two a little young to compete.” Izumi said, leaning against the doorframe.

“What??” Lin and Kya cried in unison.

“I’m nearly sixteen!”

“I can metalbend better than nearly every single officer the Chief has!”

Izumi blinked. “Well, it would probably take a couple of years to set up anyway. There’d be an arena to build, funding to set up, rules to agree on, oversight committees to set up...”

“Ughhh.” Kya cut her off with a groan. “You’re more serious than _Tenzin_ sometimes, Zoom.”

“I…thought I told you never to call me that again.”

Kya leapt off the bed with a grin. “Make me. C’mon. Let’s have our own bending competition. Water vs Fire.”

“Suyin is asleep.” Izumi pointed to the lump hidden by the blanket. Then she smiled. “So let’s take this outside.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posted weird first time ?? a mystery

Lin had no interest in getting cold again so soon after warming up and watched Kya and Izumi clear the entire courtyard of snow with their fight, her nose pressed up against the window. It steamed up completely before the battle was over and she traced patterns and spirals with her finger before wiping it clear again with her sleeve. It looked like Kya was winning and Lin grinned to herself. Kya would never let anyone hear the end of it for the rest of the holiday if she did.

Kya did win and Lin was correct. Aang looked vaguely disconcerted when Kya kept giving blow by blow accounts at dinner but Katara seemed amused by Kya’s behaviour. Lin watched carefully as Katara caught Zuko’s eye and looked smug, which shocked Lin, who’d been expecting reprisals. Zuko just winced and dropped his head to focus on the meal. Toph was loving Kya’s descriptions and often made her go into more detail of a move, cackling wickedly. Izumi sat there, looking supremely unruffled, although she left as soon as she’d finished eating.

Lin followed her, back to the dormitory, knocking tentatively on the doorframe. Izumi looked up from the book she’d picked out of her bag.

“What’s the matter Lin? Does my father want me back in the hall?”

“No.” Lin shook her head and fell silent, unsure what she wanted to say. An apology for Kya’s behaviour, which she wouldn’t have liked, if she’d fought Kya and lost, or a quick check-in but Izumi was much older than her, even older than Bumi was. “I can make a dragon.” She blurted out eventually, after suffering under Izumi’s calm stare for a few minutes. She wasn’t wearing her bending jacket, a rarity but she yanked some metal from the bed stead and made Zuko’s dragon, as much as she could from memory.

If Izumi was baffled by any of this, she didn’t show it. “Thank you Lin.” She smiled kindly. “I can make dragons too, but they don’t last very long at all.”

“How?” Lin wasn’t mystified for long as with a frown of concentration, Izumi bent fire into a twisting rope that was unmistakably a dragon. The fire disappeared the moment Izumi stopped bending but the afterimage was still burning behind Lin’s eyes. She shivered, frozen on the spot, despite her face feeling glowing hot from the fire.

“Lin?” Izumi knelt in front of her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“If she scares you again, just let me know. I’ll soon put her fire out.”

Lin whirled round to find Kya leaning against the doorframe, brandishing a fist. “She didn’t scare me!” Lin protested. “It was just really close. I’ve never seen fire that close before. You have really good control to be able to make a dragon from fire.”

“Lin has really good control too. She can make entire life size castles.” Kya said proudly, folding her arms. “From sand.”

Izumi raised an eyebrow. “And you Kya?”

Kya took a deep breath and drew water from the glass by Izumi’s bed, bending it into the shape of a fish, making it swim all round the room and around Lin’s head before forming it back into a ball and splashing it over Izumi. “How’s that for control?”

“And yet you could not control the urge to splash me. Very predictable.” Izumi replied dryly as she took off her shirt.

“Yeah, well! Who cares?” To Lin’s surprise, Kya flushed with anger and strode out.

“That was less so.” Izumi shared a puzzled glance with Lin, pulling on a fresh shirt. Lin shrugged in reply and went to leave as well but a call from Izumi brought her back. “Hadn’t you better bend the dragon back?”

Lin laughed suddenly, as she did so, at the thought of Katara’s face if she’d found a bit of the bed missing. “I’ll make you another one, if you want.” She offered Izumi.

“That would be very nice of you Lin, thank you.” Izumi nodded.

The rest of the holiday passed, with Kya being almost frostily polite to Izumi and disappearing off without explanation and Lin giving up on ever finding her new hiding place. She spent the remaining time hanging out with Tenzin and Oogi, who was a glorious ball of fluffy warmth to snuggle into in the stables as the snow continued to fall. She didn’t feel much in the mood for talking so merely listened as he told her old airbender tales that he had to memorise or stories from his trips with Aang or random facts about air bison, enjoying Tenzin’s enthusiasm as he explained various meditation techniques and talked about his desire to go to the spirit world. Lin found herself intrigued as well, wondering whether it was just airbenders who could meditate there, whether an earthbender would be too grounded to be able to let their spirit go. She thought back to Kya’s opinion, that Lin was a metalbender and that that made a difference.

Although the holiday was now over, with the weather clear, Lin ended up visiting Air Temple Island a lot. Partly to try and check whether Kya was okay but mostly to study with Tenzin. The exams were looming close and despite Toph’s assurance that she didn’t care how Lin did at school, Lin was getting anxious about them. When she confided in Tenzin about it, he suggested she come meditate with him and Aang and she leapt at the chance to test her theory on whether non-airbenders could enter the spirit world, although she didn’t tell Tenzin what was behind her enthusiasm.

It was still cold in the small garden behind the temple proper but Aang was teaching Tenzin the technique and Tenzin seemed to be mastering it, for he was there in just his simple robes. Lin stood in the doorway, wondering if the thick jumper she had on underneath her new bending jacket would somehow prevent her from meditating properly.

“Come join us, Lin. Kya.” Aang beckoned to her.

Lin whirled round to see Kya stomping across the hallway, in full Southern Watertribe dress.

“Hey Kya!” Lin’s face lit up.

“Hey Lin. Dad’s roped you into this too?” Kya snorted, striding past her.

“No…I wanted to do it.” Lin stared at her friend’s back, baffled.

“Well, if we’re doing it, let’s do it. I’m freezing already.”

Lin sat down, mimicking Aang’s posture. “What do I do?”

“Just breathe Lin.” Aang smiled at her. “Concentrate. And then let go of that concentration.”

“Let go your earthly tether!” Kya said in a sing-song voice.

“Yes. Exactly, Kya.” Aang nodded. “Take your time. Whenever you’re ready.”

Lin closed her eyes, ready to try it. She felt her breath go in and out, felt the thud of her heartbeat. She reached out, feeling Aang’s and Tenzin’s and Kya’s. Aang’s was…different somehow. She tried to match her breathing to his, as much as she could, to try and slow down her heartbeat to match his.

And then there were different vibrations and her eyes snapped open.

“Hello Lin.” Aang was sitting in the midst of a lush forest, filled with glowing vegetation and strange hissing creatures. Lin let out a cry, which she just managed to cut off before it became a scream and scrambled upright. “You’re in the spirit world.” He answered her unspoken question. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” He rose more slowly than she had and held out his hand. She didn’t take it but came to stand beside him.

“I didn’t know earthbenders could get to the spirit world. At least not without being the Avatar.”

“Well, it’s true that the air nomads are more…welcome here. The spirits like those who do not harm animals and try to live in balance with nature.”

“Like being vegetarian?”

“Among other things.”

“Where’s Kya and Tenzin?”

“Maybe they haven’t been able to join us on this visit. Would you like to look around?”

Lin nodded and followed Aang along the path. It wound through the forest and across a plain, to the base of a tall mountain. Lin stared up at it doubtfully. It looked intimidating but something about it drew Lin.

“Can we go up there?”

“If you like. As long as we’re careful. The spirit world isn’t always safe, and you can’t use your bending here.” Aang agreed. “Be especially care if…when-“ he amended “-you come here alone.”

She scowled to hide the small smile at being caught out; she’d already been wondering about coming back alone to explore. Aang held out his hand again and this time she took it and they began to make their way up the mountain together, finding a path through the jagged outcrops. She paused halfway up, finally realising what was unnerving her about the spirit world; she couldn’t feel the familiar tug of the earth.

“It’s strange, isn’t it, at first.” Aang waited for her to keep on climbing.

“Is this what it’s like being a non-bender?” Lin grimaced. It would be so easy to scale this if she could use her wires, that sat uselessly now at her shoulders.

“Possibly. I don’t think they’d miss the ability to bend like we do though. But it’s important to have that perspective, to remind us what a gift it is to be able to bend.”

They reached the steepest, rockiest part and Lin didn’t ask anything more as she concentrated on not slipping and falling all the way back down the mountain. Even though her body wasn’t here, she reasoned it would still hurt and she didn’t want her spirit bruised. Eventually they reached a small plateau and sat back down, as their bodies were back in the human world.

“You took away Ozai’s bending.” Lin said suddenly.

“Yes I did.” Aang said solemnly.

“Because you didn’t want to take away his life.”

“Yes.”

Lin thought about her own bending. “I think I’d sooner have my life taken away.”

Aang looked mildly dismayed. “Your bending is that important to you?”

“I just can’t imagine life without it. Without being able to fly on my wires.”

Aang sighed heavily. “I can understand that. But bending isn’t everything you are, Lin. Don’t forget that.”

Lin didn’t reply. She was puzzling on what else she could possibly be when she spotted movement out the corner of her eye. She nearly cricked her neck turning so fast to see a dragon?

“AANG!!” she grabbed his sleeve and tugged it, pointing.

“Ah! A dragon bird spirit. It’s beautiful isn’t it?” He smiled at her excitement as she stood up, staring breathlessly as it circled around the top of the mountain, the light of the spirit world shining off its reddish gold scales. “Stay still. It might come closer.”

“It’s friendly?” Lin whispered.

“It’s very dignified.” Aang bowed slightly as the dragon bird spirit passed in front of them and then held out his hand.

Lin mimicked him, eyes wide in delight as the spirit turned its head and flicked its tail to fly towards them. She thought her heart would stop when the spirit came to a halt before them, floating a mere foot away. Her eyes shone with tears, but she dared not move to wipe them away.

“You’re so beautiful.” She breathed.

The dragon bird spirit dipped its head to them both and, with another flick, flew away back to the topmost peak of the mountain. Aang stood in silence with her, giving her a moment to collect herself before he suggested they return.

Lin nodded in answer to his ‘Ready?’ and sat back down. The spirit world was beautiful, but she missed the tug of the earth and the singing of the metal of her wires.


End file.
